With its 1-mm thick RoboSkin smart fabric sensor technology, BeBop Sensors, Inc. can provide tactile awareness for humanoid robots and prosthetics so they can feel interactions similar to humans. The skin-like coverings enable a true nervous system and human-like touch sensing of objects for any part of a robot including limbs, fingers, feet, head and torso.
While a wide range of outstanding cameras for vision systems, microphones for hearing and sensors for a heightened sense of smell and detection of harmful chemicals have been available for robots for quite a while, the sense of touch has not matched the capability of humans.
Human-like robots can provide critical functions in healthcare, as domestic help, in manufacturing, distribution and even situations where biohazards exist. They can have increasing presence in entertainment and companionship roles as well. If touchy/feely capability has limited a robot’s interaction in these applications, RoboSkin offers a solution. Using smart fabrics, the BeBop Sensors can comprehend force, location, size, weight, shape and presence across any size, resolution and geometry
Available immediately for a variety of applications in robotics and prosthetics, including biohazard, digital health, IoT, VR/AR, automotive, law enforcement, testing and more, BeBop Sensors has a RoboSkin reference design so designers can determine their potential use of the technology. This includes evaluating how soft, flexible, sensing can be integrated into complex or organic forms and unlock new dimensions of machine intelligence.
The first reference design is a distal finger joint where fabric sensing is uniquely suited for high density, dynamic and repeatable response from the complex shape of a human finger. Hardware in the reference design includes an 80- tactile pixel (taxel) distal array with a pitch of 2 mm x 3 mm and a diameter (not including a central board) of approximately 31 mm x 19 mm. Capable of interfacing to variety of platforms, including Raspberry Pi, the reference design includes a software development kit with APIs for real-time raw data streams and sample code for Python and Javascript. Software enables multiple visualization modes including live data charts or 3D rendered.
