Given that many robots are designed for physical interaction with humans -- for instance those used in therapy or clinical settings -- the texture of the robot body is an important consideration.

Given that many robots are designed for physical interaction with humans—for instance those used in therapy or clinical settings—the texture of the robot body is an important consideration.

A new crawling robot has taken a page from origami design. The machine’s paper-and-plastic body can spring from flat to 3-D just like a pop-up book, researchers report in the Aug. 8 Science.

Journal Reference: Jeremy A. Fishel, Gerald E. Loeb. Bayesian Exploration for Intelligent Identification of Textures. Frontiers in Neurorobotics, 2012; 6 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2012.00004 ...

However, the robot finger is even more sensitive and also has the capability to identify in which direction forces are being applied and the temperature of the object being touched.

Researchers have developed BioTac, an artificial finger which can detect the texture, temperature, and hardness of different surfaces. Researchers have developed BioTac, an artificial finger which ...

Technology Robot whiskers sense shapes and textures By Paul Marks 4 October 2006 The artificial whiskers were used to create a 3D image of a model face (Image: Mitra Hartmann/Joe Solomon) ...

(Nanowerk News) Impressions of a robot’s personality can be influenced by the way it looks, sounds, and feels. But now, researchers from Japan have found specific causal relationships between ...