What is pain? It can be described as a feeling. It alerts us to damage, and its onset can help to protect us from hurting ourselves again or further.
According to the T-800 of the Terminator series, pain is data, and there are many scientists out there who would agree; however, it would have been an entirely different film if Arnold Schwarzenegger had threatened people with processing proteomics analyses.
While making robots ‘feel’ pain may seem the stuff of sci-fi movies, Yeri Jeong and co-workers show us in their recent publication in RSC Advances, that it is a very legitimate line of research. If robots can feel pain, it can improve their range of applications, especially in harsh environments as they may engage a protective mode.
The research team, based in Korea and the UK, have created a nanowire array that can detect signals based on pattern analysis and pressure, for example, the sharp point of a pencil would be more painful than the soft end with the eraser. The electromechanical structure used comprising flexible ZnO nanowires can mimic the different deformations of the skin to generate a signal. Once that signal goes above a threshold pressure level, it yields an artificial pain signal based on both pattern analysis and force.
They tested the array with a variety of different objects and pressure levels with an earplug and a pen lid, amongst other objects of torture. The array produced a ‘pain’ signal when stabbed with a sharp object at high force, in a quick response time. Yeri Jeong said ‘I’ll be back’ with more sensors – ok, I made that bit up but they do write that the simple design may find application in various devices and the robot industry.
To find out more, click below to read the full article in RSC Advances.
Psychological tactile sensor structure based on piezoelectric nanowire cell arrays, Yeri Jeong, Minkyung Sim, Jeong Hee Shin, Ji-Woong Choi, Jung Inn Sohn, Seung Nam Cha, Hongsoo Choi, Cheil Moon and Jae Eun Jang, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 40363-40368 (DOI: 10.1039/C5RA05744B)
