So ...
.. a new source of toilet paper then.
Salvador Dalí style floppy iPad on the way, seemingly
Engineers in California say they have developed a way of making touch- and pressure-sensitive material which is also bendy and flexible. The new technology could be used to make flexible touchscreen devices - or, its designers say, to build robotics or prosthetics capable of such delicate tasks as handling eggs or emptying …
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Tuesday 14th September 2010 00:14 GMT Trevor_Pott
@ravenwiz
The computer attached to the human's skin varies greatly depending on the human. Some have deficiencies in hardware, software or both that lead to a complete inability to perform tasks such as unloading a dishwasher simultaneous with any form of contemplation.
The neat part about robots is that once you get the programming and hardware design right the failure rate is significantly lower. As is the performance variability of the operating unit. The downside is that you tend to get a shorter cumulative operational lifespan given the limitations of current materials technology. Additionally; wetware regenerates minor to moderate damage. Robots do not.
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Monday 13th September 2010 12:58 GMT Steve the Cynic
Actually...
In fact, the problem for correct handling of eggs, wine glasses, and stock pots with the same hand (not all at once, thanks) lies not in knowing how much pressure one is exerting, nor how much the thing weighs, but how much pressure the object can withstand. Fancy pressure-sensitive "skin" won't help with that problem.
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Monday 13th September 2010 14:18 GMT Steven Knox
Not so
The problem is not primarily in how much pressure the object can withstand, but how much pressure is necessary in order to hold the thing without it slipping.
WE don't do some magical analysis of the structural integrity of a wine glass or egg when we pick it up. We simple close our hand around it until we feel enough pressure to counteract the force of gravity.
We also don't always get it right, especially on the first try. When we break an egg because we used too much pressure, we remember that and try a little less next time. When we drop an egg because we used too little pressure, we remember that and try more next time.
Central to all of this is knowing how much pressure is being exerted. If we don't know how much we're exerting, how is knowing the acceptable amount going to help? As an analogy, a 30Mph speed limit sign doesn't help you much if your speedometer's broken.
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Tuesday 14th September 2010 09:01 GMT Anonymous Coward
lazy b*****ds
oh come on now...having a dishwasher in itself is lazy enough . pop the stuff in for a few days, add tablet and press go... no more slaving over a sink with the old fairy liquid... but a ROBOT as well to help unload it?? thats just laziness.
I think predictions that all humans will become nothing more than a blob with an appendage able to control a remote are getting accurate...
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Friday 17th September 2010 08:43 GMT Martin Budden
Mr
Ever wondered why we have fingerprints? They exist (in conjunction with vibration sensors) so we can apply just enough grip pressure to pick up an object without it slipping. We grasp the object gently at first, then start the lifting movement: as slippage starts the ridges of the fingerprints cause vibrations as they slip (stick-release-stick-release), the vibration is sensed by specialised nerves, and grip pressure is increased gradually until slippage vibration stops. All this happens in the blink of an eye. Clever.
If we can work out a way for a robot to detect slippage and react quickly enough, there's no reason why a robot shouldn't be able to cope with both wine glasses and stockpots.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
