Chinese researchers have built a self-healing gelatin sensor that lets robots rate pain and protect themselves after damage.
Researchers from China’s Northeast Normal University have developed a novel soft, jelly-like electronic “pain nerve” that could give robots human-like reflexes. These “nerves,” the researchers explain, can feel pressure at different intensities, not just on and off.
What’s more, the nerves appear to become more sensitive once they’ve been “injured.” Over time, as they “heal,” the nerves also calm and become less sensitive.Impressively, the new electronic nerves can physically repair themselves once damaged. They could also, in theory, be used to trigger a reflex, like moving a limb away from a “pain” source.In this sense, these nerves behave in a very similar manner to biological pain responses. More so, in fact, than previously developed similar robot sensors.At present, most robot sensors tend to be binary in nature, that is, they can either touch or not. They also tend to be stateless, meaning they “forget” pain immediately after detection. Rise of the feeling robotsSuch sensors also tend to be fragile, meaning any damage tends to mean they need complete replacement. In human beings, your nerves can “encode” how bad pain is.They also tend to stay extra sensitive after sustaining an injury for a time. Over time, human nerves are then able to return to normal, albeit slowly. All of this means that your body is able ot provide some protection to damaged tissues in your body. The new robot “nerves,” therefore, attempts to replicate this behavior using hardware, not software.Key to the new development is something called memristors. These are electronic components whose resistance depends on what has happened to them in the past. That’s important because neurons remember past stimulation, and pain sensitivity depends on history. However, most memristors flip between two states .The new ones used by the researchers, however, have 16 stable levels, a bit like a dimmer switch instead of a light switch. Each level represents a different pain intensity from no pain at all to mild, moderate, severe, etc.Further to that, the team also made good use of gelatin . This is an excellent choice as it can conduct ions just like living creatures.It also naturally self-heals when warmed, and has chemical groups that guide ion movement cleanly. This, the team explains, enables things like magnesium ions to move and form tiny conductive paths.Tested on miceThese paths form in predictable steps, giving the 16 pain levels for the memristor. This setup enables the pressure sensor to convert physical force into an electronic current that can, in turn, trigger a response, such as muscle activation. The team was even able to connect the new nerve to a mouse’s sciatic nerve for testing. They found that the sensor was able to trigger a muscle reaction in the mouse just like a natural reflex arc .What differs from living creatures is how the gelatin can heal. To “heal” the gelatin needs to be exposed to 60 °C to let it re-bond. This is not safe for living things, but is perfectly fine for robots. This discovery is not about giving robots the ability to feel pain, per se, but is more about engineering safety and durability in robots. It could be used, for example, to help robots protect themselves when in operation.Perhaps it could even be used to help robots “learn” what is dangerous to touch or not, just like humans learn in childhood. It could, in theory, also be integrated into prosthetics that can respond proportionally to patients. You can view the study for yourself in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
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