Object Handling and Work Efficiency Improved
A Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) research team led by professors Park Hyung-soon and Kim Taek-soo has developed three-layer artificial skin for robot hand operation enhancement. According to the team, object handling and work efficiency can be improved when the skin is applied to tongs for industrial purposes, robot hands, prosthetic hands, and so on.
In its experiment, the team tested the functionality of a robot hand equipped with the artificial skin by holding a smartphone with the hand and applying a torsional force to the smartphone. The hand held the phone even when the force was 147 percent of the level at which a smartphone is dropped from a different robot hand not equipped with the three-layer artificial skin of the KAIST research team.
In addition, the robot hand equipped with the skin gripped the phone with its palm and four fingers unlike other robot hands. The research team explained that the hand is 30 percent more efficient in terms of object fixing and moving capabilities.