Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > A color-based sensor to emulate skin's sensitivity: In a step toward more autonomous soft robots and wearable technologies, EPFL researchers have created a device that uses color to simultaneously sense multiple mechanical and temperature stimuli

ChromoSense © Titouan Veuillet/Adrian Alberola Campailla

CREDIT
© Titouan Veuillet/Adrian Alberola Campailla
ChromoSense © Titouan Veuillet/Adrian Alberola Campailla CREDIT © Titouan Veuillet/Adrian Alberola Campailla

Abstract:
Robotics researchers have already made great strides in developing sensors that can perceive changes in position, pressure, and temperature – all of which are important for technologies like wearable devices and human-robot interfaces. But a hallmark of human perception is the ability to sense multiple stimuli at once, and this is something that robotics has struggled to achieve.

A color-based sensor to emulate skin's sensitivity: In a step toward more autonomous soft robots and wearable technologies, EPFL researchers have created a device that uses color to simultaneously sense multiple mechanical and temperature stimuli

Lausanne, Switzerland | Posted on December 8th, 2023

Now, Jamie Paik and colleagues in the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab (RRL) in EPFL’s School of Engineering have developed a sensor that can perceive combinations of bending, stretching, compression, and temperature changes, all using a robust system that boils down to a simple concept: color.

Dubbed ChromoSense, the RRL’s technology relies on a translucent rubber cylinder containing three sections dyed red, green, and blue. An LED at the top of the device sends light through its core, and changes in the light’s path through the colors as the device is bent or stretched are picked up by a miniaturized spectral meter at the bottom.

“Imagine you are drinking three different flavors of slushie through three different straws at once: the proportion of each flavor you get changes if you bend or twist the straws. This is the same principle that ChromoSense uses: it perceives changes in light traveling through the colored sections as the geometry of those sections deforms," says Paik.

A thermosensitive section of the device also allows it to detect temperature changes, using a special dye – similar to that in color-changing t-shirts or mood rings – that desaturates in color when it is heated. The research has been published in Nature Communications and selected for the Editor's Highlights page.

A more streamlined approach to wearables

Paik explains that while robotic technologies that rely on cameras or multiple sensing elements are effective, they can make wearable devices heavier and more cumbersome, in addition to requiring more data processing.

“For soft robots to serve us better in our daily lives, they need to be able to sense what we are doing,” she says. “Traditionally, the fastest and most inexpensive way to do this has been through vision-based systems, which capture all of our activities and then extract the necessary data. ChromoSense allows for more targeted, information-dense readings, and the sensor can be easily embedded into different materials for different tasks.”

Thanks to its simple mechanical structure and use of color over cameras, ChromoSense could potentially lend itself to inexpensive mass production. In addition to assistive technologies, such as mobility-aiding exosuits, Paik sees everyday applications for ChromoSense in athletic gear or clothing, which could be used to give users feedback about their form and movements.

A strength of ChromoSense – its ability to sense multiple stimuli at once – can also be a weakness, as decoupling simultaneously applied stimuli is still a challenge the researchers are working on. At the moment, Paik says they are focusing on improving the technology to sense locally applied forces, or the exact boundaries of a material when it changes shape.

“If ChromoSense gains popularity and many people want to use it as a general-purpose robotic sensing solution, then I think further increasing the information density of the sensor could become a really interesting challenge,” she says.

Looking ahead, Paik also plans to experiment with different formats for ChromoSense, which has been prototyped as a cylindrical shape and as part of a wearable soft exosuit, but could also be imagined in a flat form more suitable for the RRL’s signature origami robots.

“With our technology, anything can become a sensor as long as light can pass through it,” she summarizes.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Celia Luterbacher
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Office: 41-216-938-759

Copyright © Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

References

Related News Press

News and information

New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024

Energy transmission in quantum field theory requires information September 13th, 2024

Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024

Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024

Robotics

Virginia Tech physicists propose path to faster, more flexible robots: Virginia Tech physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery May 17th, 2024

Femtosecond laser technique births "dancing microrobots": USTC's breakthrough in multi-material microfabrication August 11th, 2023

A solid understanding of liquid-solid interaction: Pitt researcher receives $300K from the NSF to explore motion of viscous liquids interacting with solid bodies June 30th, 2023

Liquid metal sticks to surfaces without a binding agent June 9th, 2023

Possible Futures

Rice research could make weird AI images a thing of the past: New diffusion model approach solves the aspect ratio problem September 13th, 2024

Giving batteries a longer life with the Advanced Photon Source: New research uncovers a hydrogen-centered mechanism that triggers degradation in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles September 13th, 2024

NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop novel covalent organic frameworks for precise cancer treatment delivery: NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop novel covalent organic frameworks for precise cancer treatment delivery September 13th, 2024

New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024

Sensors

Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024

Innovative sensing platform unlocks ultrahigh sensitivity in conventional sensors: Lan Yang and her team have developed new plug-and-play hardware to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of optical sensors April 5th, 2024

$900,000 awarded to optimize graphene energy harvesting devices: The WoodNext Foundation's commitment to U of A physicist Paul Thibado will be used to develop sensor systems compatible with six different power sources January 12th, 2024

New tools will help study quantum chemistry aboard the International Space Station: Rochester Professor Nicholas Bigelow helped develop experiments conducted at NASA’s Cold Atom Lab to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us November 17th, 2023

Discoveries

Energy transmission in quantum field theory requires information September 13th, 2024

Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024

Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024

New nanomaterial could transform how we visualise fingerprints: Innovative nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionise forensic science, particularly in the detection of latent (non-visible) fingermarks September 13th, 2024

Announcements

Giving batteries a longer life with the Advanced Photon Source: New research uncovers a hydrogen-centered mechanism that triggers degradation in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles September 13th, 2024

NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop novel covalent organic frameworks for precise cancer treatment delivery: NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop novel covalent organic frameworks for precise cancer treatment delivery September 13th, 2024

New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024

New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Rice research could make weird AI images a thing of the past: New diffusion model approach solves the aspect ratio problem September 13th, 2024

Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024

Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024

New nanomaterial could transform how we visualise fingerprints: Innovative nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionise forensic science, particularly in the detection of latent (non-visible) fingermarks September 13th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project