*So twenty-teens.
via @atduskgreg
http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/robotics-hardware/soft-robots-for-hard-problems
(...)
"Majidi says the field of soft robotics is still fairly new and that researchers need to find alternatives to air pumps as a way to control the devices. The robots will also need ways to sense their own position. For that he’s exploring the use of microfluidics, specifically liquid-filled microchannels inside a film of rubber.
"Something as simple as saltwater would render the channel conductive so that the device would become electronic. But there are other fluids that could work, such as Galinstan—an alloy of gallium, indium, and tin that’s liquid at room temperature and a million times as conductive as saline, making it comparable to copper wire.
"Because bending or stretching such a circuit changes the shape of the microfluidic channel, it also changes the circuit’s conductivity and thus alters an electrical signal passing through it. “You get something that functions like a stretchable circuit,” Majidi says. Such a device could act as a sensor that measures strain, pressure, or curvature. It could even be used as a stretchable antenna, as was recently demonstrated by a team led by Michael Dickey at North Carolina State University.
"And soft devices would be comfortable for human use. “You can wear them, essentially,” Majidi says. He envisions a sensor worn over a finger or other joint to monitor body motion. Or the soft circuits could be integrated with textiles to create a wearable keyboard or other “smart” clothing.
“There are lots of things you could do with this,” says Stokes. (((Yeah, like inventing a "haptic robotic aesthetics" of robots with puffy, gooey appendages that roll around airily fondling things.)))
