‘Design your own robotic systems’ with robotic skins technology

Researchers at Yale University joined forces with NASA to design and develop robotic skins technology capable of turning inanimate objects into multi functional, reusable robots capable of countless tasks.

Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science at Yale University, said: “We can take the skins and wrap them around one object to perform a task, locomotion for example, and then take them off and put them on a different object to perform a different task, such as grasping and moving an object. We can then take those same skins off that object and put them on a shirt to make an active wearable device. One of the main things I considered was the importance of multi functionality, especially for deep space exploration where the environment is unpredictable. The question is: How do you prepare for the unknown unknowns?

The skins are made from elastic sheets with sensors and actuators implanted in them, and were developed in Ms Kramer-Bottiglio’s lab. They make the deformable object they are placed on move from the surface and the type of task they can perform is dependent on the properties of the object and how the skins are put on. Possibilities are endless.