Robots are one step closer to becoming more like humans. Engineers have equipped a robot with a sensor that is able to identify textures through touch, similar to the sensation in your fingertips.
The technology is so successful that the robot's tactile sensor actually outperforms humans in identifying different materials, which could be a major step in creating better prosthetic hands or industrial robots.
The BioTac sensor uses intelligent algorithms to select, control and interpret data for "exploratory" movements (like grasping, holding, etc.) that are similar to the way humans feel a piece of clothing or a hard surface. The sensor -- a fluid-filled fingertip that's the same size as a human finger -- vibrates when it slides over a surface to create a reaction force. This is then used to "extract measures of textural properties inspired from psychophysical literature (traction, roughness, and fineness)," according to a paper published in Frontiers in Robotics.
Developers created a database of 117 textures in order to establish a "prior experience" from which the robot to draw when it encounters similar textures in the future. Dubbed the "Bayesian exploration," the process had a success rate of 99.6% in accurately discriminating pairs of similar textures.