Graduate students at Cornell University have developed an electroluminescent skin that health care robots could use to demonstrate the temperature, pulse, and even temperament of patients through the alteration of its color.
Under the direction of Rob Shepherd, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, the students created the skin, which can emit lights in different colors while also being stretched over six times its original size. Because of its flexibility, the skin, known as a hyper-elastic light-emitting capacitor, is able to tolerate over two times more pulling, rolling, or pounding than previously tested stretchable displays could endure.
Two layers of transparent hydrogel electrodes bookend an insulating elastomer sheet, making up the skin’s three layers. The elastomer is what gives the skin the ability to change light and store an electric charge while its shape is being altered.
“We can take these pixels that change color and put them on these robots, and now we have the ability to change their color,” Shepherd said. “Why is that important? For one thing, when robots become more and more a part of our lives, the ability for them to have emotional connection with us will be important. So to be able to change their color in response to mood or the tone of the room we believe is going to be important for human-robot interactions.”
In addition to the benefits that it could provide to health care, the group believes the skin could be an asset for a number of sectors, including transportation and electronic communication.
The group already used the skin for a “crawling soft robot” made of three six-layered hyper-elastic light-emitting capacitor panels. The two bottom layers made up the pneumatic actuators that allowed the robot to crawl in a wavelike motion.
The group, whose work was funded by the U.S. Army Research Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and National Science Foundation, published its paper on the skin in the journal Science.
[Via Gizmag and Cornell University]