Hasta La Gadget!

The verdict’s still out on whether or not androids dream of electric sheep. But their ability to feel? Well, that’s about to approach levels of human sensitivity. We’re of course talking about the sense of touch, not emotions. And thanks to work out of Georgia Tech, tactile sensitivity for robotics, more secure e-signatures and general human-machine interaction is about to get a great ‘ol boost. Through the use of thousands of piezotronic transistors (i.e., grouped vertical zinc oxide nanowires) known as “taxels,” a three-person team led by Prof. Zhong Lin Wang has devised a way to translate motion into electronic signals. In other words, you’re looking at a future in which robotic hands interpret the nuances of a surface or gripped object akin to a human fingertip and artificial skin senses touch similar to the way tiny hairs on an arm do.

What’s more, the tech has use outside of robotics and can even be levereged for more secure e-signature verification based on speed and pressure of a user’s handwriting. And the best part? These sensors can be manufactured on transparent and flexible substrates like the one pictured above, which allows for various real-world applications — just use your imagination. Pretty soon, even robots will have the pleasure of enjoying the touch… the feel of cotton and maybe even hum that jingle to themselves, too.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: MIT Technology Review

Source: Georgia Tech, Science

If you’re the fidgety type, new research from Georga Tech may one day turn your nervous energy into a fully charged cellphone. The scientists, who previously borrowed piezoelectric power from walking, created static electricity generated from movement between plastic and metal, similar to the way a balloon can be electrified by rubbing it on your hair. The charging area was greatly increased by patterning the surfaces on a nanoscale level, allowing this “tribolectric effect” to be multiplied and converting up to 15 percent of the mechanical energy into electricity (so far). About 50 common materials could be paired to create the material, and a 2 x 2-inch patch could conceivably be worn as an armband and used to charge up a cellphone battery. So far the tech works fine in the lab, but it remains to be seen if real world vibrations can generate enough energy to make it practical. While you’re waiting, though, feel free to stock up on coffee.

Filed under: Cellphones, Science, Mobile

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Via: MIT Technology Review

Source: Nano Letters

One of the last times we saw the concept of a self-recharging battery, it was part of a high-minded Nokia patent whose ideas still haven’t seen the light of day. Researchers at Georgia Tech are more inclined to put theory into practice. Starting from a regular lithium-ion coin battery, the team has replaced the usual divider between electrodes with a polyvinylidene difluoride film whose piezoelectric nature produces a charging action inside that gap through just a little pressure, with no outside voltage required to make the magic happen. The developers have even thumbed their noses at skeptics by very literally walking the walk — slipping the test battery under a shoe sole gives it a proper dose of energy with every footstep. At this stage, the challenge mostly involves ramping up the maximum power through upgrades such as more squeezable piezoelectrics. Georgia Tech hasn’t progressed so far as to have production plans in mind; it’s nonetheless close enough that we could see future forms of wearable computing that rarely need an electrical pick-me-up.

Filed under: Wearables, Science

Georgia Tech develops self-charging battery that marches to the owner’s beat originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Having difficulty getting your robot parts to work as planned? Turn to nature — or better yet, look inside yourself. After all, where better to find inspiration than the humans that the machines will one day enslave, right? Researchers at Georgia Tech have been working to develop a system to control cameras in robots that utilizes similar functionality as human muscle. Says Ph.D. candidate Joshua Schultz,

The actuators developed in our lab embody many properties in common with biological muscle, especially a cellular structure. Essentially, in the human eye muscles are controlled by neural impulses. Eventually, the actuators we are developing will be used to capture the kinematics and performance of the human eye.

The team recently showed off their work at the EEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics in Rome. When fully developed, they anticipate that the piezoelectric system could be used for MRI-based surgery, rehabilitation and research of the human eye.

Georgia Tech scientists developing biology-inspired system to give robot eyes more human-like motion originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 04:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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