A sensor-studded sheet of plastic can make soft objects perform tasks or even straighten up a person’s bad posture thanks to a new invention by Yale engineers. Anything from balloons to balls of crumpled paper could become useful robots using the technology.
The robotic “skins” are made from elastic sheets embedded with sensors and actuators, or components that generate movement.
“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,” said. Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, a professor of mechanical engineering & materials science. “We can then take those same skins off that object and put them on a shirt to make an active wearable device.”
Designed in partnership with NASA, the skins were created after the space agency called for new “soft robots” that could help astronauts do their jobs.
The skins allow engineers to create multi-functional robots using existing objects on the fly. The skins can also be layered to allow for a combination of movements. Foam cylinders that move like inchworms, a shirt-like wearable that corrects poor posture, and a device with a gripper were among the robots created in Kramer-Bottiglio’s lab.
Watch a video of the robotic skins in action here.
