July 07, 2021
published at 3:16 AMReuters
A robotic hand with the AiFoam artificially innervated smart foam, which enables it to sense objects in proximity by detecting their electrical fields and also self-heals if it gets cut, is pictured at National University Singapore's Materials Sciences and Engineering lab in Singapore, June 30, 2021.
Reuters
SINGAPORE, July 6 - Singapore researchers have developed a smart foam material that allows robots to sense nearby objects, and repairs itself when damaged, just like human skin.
Artificially innervated foam, or AiFoam, is a highly elastic polymer created by mixing fluoropolymer with a compound that lowers surface tension.
This allows the spongy material to fuse easily into one piece when cut, according to the researchers at the National University of Singapore.