The future scene is this: equipped with a virtual reality headset and special haptic gloves, a surgeon from Boston is operating on a heart patient in Bombay, India. In the operating room, two robotic hands exactly replicate his remote movements and transmit all kinds of sensations to the surgeon: temperature, pressure, weight, resistance, touch.
Research in the field of robotic limbs is advancing rapidly with the use of increasingly sensors, and this week during Amazon's Tech Showcase, re:MARS, the company's owner Jeff Bezos himself has shown to him extraordinary technological developments from three distinct companies.
At the heart of the system could be two robotic hands from the British company Shadow Robot: they are capable of 24 movements and They incorporate 129 sensors that transmit position, force and pressure. They can lift 5kg of weight each.
In the demonstration of this week robotic hands were then added of the sensors next-generation tactile sensors, the BioTacs, developed by SynTouch, a company born within the University of Southern California.
Each sensor replicates the functions of a fingertip, is surrounded by a liquid core and covered with a special skin “textured” (almost as if it had fingerprints). On movement of the skin on a surface, the vibrations produced by friction with these synthetic “imprints” are captured by a hydrophone that transmits the data on the surface touched joined to those on his temperature.
The system is controlled remotely by wearing a pair of gloves (also equipped with 130 liquid-based tactile sensors) made by the American company HaptX.
The first tests are amazing, they provide the physical equivalent of the wonder felt listening to the first radio broadcast: Beyond this week's demonstration, a first test allowed a Californian user to write with robotic hands on the keyboard of a PC located in London.
Next-generation devices will incorporate solutions from these three companies and others too, and can be used in applications of all types: remote assistance, I defuse devices, remote surgery or underwater construction.
