Important Innovations

University of Colorado at Boulder Breakthru Technology E-Skin This e-skin is self-healing, malleable and fully re-cyclable.  It can be used for robotics, prosthetics and for better medical devices. E-skin is a thin, translucent material that mimics the function and mechanical properties of real human skin. University of Colorado's e-skin also has sensors embedded in the skin for critical measurements. Awesome Tech Loaded with Sensors The e-skin has sensors embedded to measure pressure, temperature, humidity and air flow.  The tech has several unique properties including a polymer called polyimine.  It's also laced with silver nanoparticles to provide strong mechanical strength, chemical stability and electrical connectivity. The e-skin can be easily fitted to curved surfaces like a human arm or hand and even a robot's finger for a sense of touch. Polyimine Does It According to University of Colorado scientist Jianliang Xiao, what's unique is the chemical bond...

 e-Whiskers Breakthrough Enables Robots with Feelings e-Whiskers are hair-like structures that are paving the way for robotic and prosthetics human like skin.  The University of Texas at Dallas team used shape memory polymers to mimic the properties of the real thing.  By the real thing, they mean the whiskers on our pets and wildlife. Animal Kingdom Concepts -  Innovation From Seals In the animal kingdom, whiskers on cats are used to probe and sense things in their environment.  Seals are a great example.  They have long whiskers with which they sense fish.  Recent studies with blindfolded seals showed they could find fish swimming in a pool solely through their whiskers.  The whiskers sensed water disturbances which gave the seals information on where the fish were.  Animal whiskers are touch receptors, sending vital information to the brain and helping animals navigate their environment. Robotic Sensors on Whiskers The robo...

Johns Hopkins' Breakthrough Electronic Skin Imagine a prosthetic limb that can have a sense of feeling.  Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have created e-skin or electronic skin.  It's made of fabric and rubber-laced with sensors to mimic nerve endings. For the person using a prosthetic hand, e-dermis recreates a sense of touch.  It also recreates a sense of pain by sensing stimuli and sending impulses back to the peripheral nerves.  The pain function is very important because it protects the user from injury and the prosthetic limb from damage.  Providing that important functionality of touch is a significant tech breakthrough. Based On Biology Human skin contains a complex network of receptors that relay a variety of sensations to the brain. The researchers used the network as a biological template for their work.  They made a sensor that goes over the fingertips of a prosthetic hand and acts like the person's own skin would with receptors ...