This Robotic Finger is Covered in Living Human Skin
upstart writes:
The skin can realistically bend, stretch, and wrinkle as the finger curls and extends:
Roboticists from the University of Tokyo have taken a tiny step toward creating the Terminator. They've built an articulated robot finger that's seamlessly covered in living human skin.
[...] A relatively simple robotic finger with three moving joints was first submerged in a solution made up of collagen, a structural protein, and dermal fibroblasts, the primary type of human cells found in skin's connective tissue and its sub-surface dermis layer. This solution shrank and tightly conformed itself to the robotic finger, creating a flexible foundation on which to apply multiple layers of epidermal keratinocytes, the primary type of human cells found in skin's outer epidermis layer.
[...] This research is just the earliest steps toward creating believable humanoid bots, however. The layer of human skin covering the finger is far less durable than natural human skin, and the robot is unable to provide it with a constant supply of nutrients that would allow it to grow and regenerate. As a result, it doesn't last very long, but the researchers are hoping to improve its longevity with future iterations that incorporate more complex structures and functionality, including neurons that could allow it to feel, and even sweat glands-so one day, robots might even stink like we do.
Journal Reference:
Michio Kawai et al., Living skin on a robot [open], Matter, June 09, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.05.019
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.