Robotics engineers continue to amaze with their creations. This time, engineers have made artificial skin that gives robots a sense of touch. With this skin, they can process the sensation many times faster than humans can. 

The Robot that Can Feel Touch

Engadget reports that researchers at the National University of Singapore created the artificial robot skin. The team equipped theimt with the new surface. With this skin, they detected touch 1,000 times faster than any humans. Likewise, the NUS robot knew the “shape, texture, and hardness of objects” ten times faster than a human can blink. For this, they used an event-based camera.

With this material, the NUS team believes they can speed up the development of caregiving robots. In the future, maybe robots can even do surgery.

“Loihi” the Intel Chip

Gizmodo reports that the NUS team used the Intel chip called Loihi for their artificial robot skin. Before this test, the NUS team used the Loihi on their skin to teach a robot hand to read Braille. The Loihi chip processed the data sent by the robot. Its Braille results showed a 92% accuracy rate, using 20 times less power than standard Von Neumann processors.

The chip that can smell can now help robots feel touch https://t.co/qyImx6nirx pic.twitter.com/hKe3AveNEh

— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) July 28, 2020

The skin and camera work together to send data to the Loihi chip, as needed. Both the camera and the skin detect touch when the hand picks up an object. This method allows the Loihi chip to process data quickly. Both the skin and camera also improve the accuracy of the system by 10%. 

The NUS Team and the Robot Skin

Harold Soh said his NUS team was “excited by these results.” The results of this test can help scientists create a robot that can combine sight and touch.

The post Robot Skin Helps Machines Feel Touch, Read Braille first appeared on Tekrati and is written by Sam Arnold

Welcome the new face of flipping burgers as White Castle plans to introduce its burger-grilling robot, Flippy. The private burger chain has announced its partnership with Miso Robotics to develop Flippy. White Castle has begun testing of the robot at a Chicago branch last September. Miso Robotics is a tech start-up based in Pasadena, California. 

What Is Flippy the Burger-Grilling Robot?

According to the CNN report, Flippy is an “automated kitchen assistant.” A report on the website Tech Crunch added that the latest version of Miso could start preparing the food as soon as the register accepts the order. Moreover, the tech company assured people that robots are safer in the kitchen. They can use thermal imaging to detect undercooked food. With this, they can prevent food poisoning. Robots could also free up human employees. The fewer people work in the kitchen, the fewer chances of spreading diseases.

White Castle said Flippy could help shorten grilling and frying time. In a statement to CNN, CEO Lisa Ingram said the company is “thrilled to bring the future into our kitchen.”

Will Flippy the Robot Take Human Jobs?

Not all is good news, though. Concerns arise whether robots like Flippy will take over human jobs. White Castle did not clarify if Flippy would do this. They just said that Flippy could free up employees to do other tasks like customer service. Jamie Castle also told Tech Crunch that White Castle does not want to shed workers. They just said Flippy could help the company save money. Castle is the vice president of shareholder relations at White Castle.

With COVID-19 changing the way restaurants operate, Flippy might also be a welcome addition to the workforce. 

See Flippy the Burger-Grilling Robot in Action

Curious to see how a burger-grilling robot works? This video from Tech Crunch might satisfy your curiosity and more.  

The post White Castle Announces Launch of Flippy The Burger-Grilling Robot first appeared on Tekrati and is written by Rob Sterling