Pioneering Scottish scientists are developing artificial ‘electronic’ skin expected to bring major transformations in manufacturing, health and communications.
According to the Herald Scotland the technology is expected to be available in just five years’ time for practical uses include restoring feeling in prosthetic limbs for amputees.
Dr Ravinder Dahiya, from Glasgow University, said the skin could well be used to enable robots to have a sense of touch so they know what they are in contact with, in turn improving safety for manufacturers.
The Herald said there had been cases of accidents occurring in workplaces where robots are used. They used the example of a worker killed at at a Volkswagen factory in Germany after a robot grabbed him and crushed him against a metal plate.
“If these robots have skin, even if a human mistake is made, then the human will be safe. It might change the landscape so that when you go to a plant you might see robots and humans working side by side in the future.”
