What sounds like the stuff of science fiction, experts have just developed living skin for robots, further blurring the boundaries between man and machine. The recently published study boasts of living skin that moves and looks exactly like human skin.
Crafting Living Skin for Robots
In a study recently published in the journal Matter, titled "Living skin on a robot," researchers from the University of Tokyo developed skin tissue specifically for robots that look like human skin and move like it. Shoji Takeuchi, the lead author of the study and an engineer at the university, told Insider that their team was able to demonstrate living skin tissue can be used to coat materials for robots with the potential to make robots in the future seem more human-like.
To craft the robot's skin, the team submerged a robotic finger in a cylinder filled with a collage and fibroblasts solution - the solution comprises the two main components that make up the largest organ in the human body, the skin. Using living cells also allowed the robot's skin with biological functions, such as the ability to repel water and self-repair.
The team behind the breakthrough sees various future applications for the technology, such as helping engineers fabricate more nimble human-like prosthetics and aiding in developing pharmaceuticals and cosmetics for skin.
Takeuchi explains that the fabricated skin has a thickness of 1.5mm and is made of only the top layers of the human skin - the epidermis and dermis. He explains that it does not look like perfect skin just yet. He adds that it lacks advanced skin features such as hair follicles, nails, sweat glands, and sensory neurons. However, as the robot moves, the skin can contract and stretch, revealing wrinkles and making it look more realistic than silicon.
Currently, silicon is the preferred material when it comes to crafting artificial robot skin.
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Ups and Downs of Living Skin on Robots
For years, robotic experts have been experimenting with various ways to create more human-looking robots; however, they haven't achieved realistic skin that conforms to the uneven surfaces of the robot's body. Takeuchi adds that the hands of an artisan are needed to cut and tailor the mold flat skin sheets to contour 3D machines.
Takeuchi and his team have established a tissue molding method that allows the direct molding of skin tissue to surround the robot, which resulted in seamless coverage of the robotic finger with skin despite its uneven surfaces.
On the other hand, Takeuchi admits that the newly developed skin is weaker than natural human skin because it is living tissue; it constantly requires the supply of nutrients and the removal of wastes. To that end, the team plans to follow up their studies to explore how the tissue will survive longer and include more complex skin structures such as sweat glands and hair follicles.
Whether the breakthrough further blurs the lines separating man from the machine, it is no question that it can have significant advancements in the prosthetic and pharmaceutical industry.
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