Sense of Touch

Carnegie Mellon University - Picking up a blueberry or grape without squishing it isn't hard, but try teaching it to a robot. Carnegie Mellon University and Meta AI (formerly Facebook AI) hope to change that through a new tactile sensing skin they believe will increase the sense of touch in robotics, wearables, smart clothing and artificial intelligence. Called ReSkin, the technology is affordable, durable and easy-to-use. It harnesses advances in machine learning, soft robotics and magnetic sensing to create a skin that is versatile and as easy to apply as a bandage. "I want this sensing skin to be so robust and simple that anyone could set it up and start gathering touch data within a day," said Tess Hellebrekers, a postdoctoral researcher at Meta AI who earned her Ph.D. from CMU's Robotics Institute (RI) in 2020. Abhinav Gupta , an associate professor in the RI and the research manager at Meta AI who worked with Hellebrekers on ReSkin, said the technology could lead to an explosion of possible applications for tactile sensing.