New sweater-like fabric may help robots to feel human touch

Over recent years, the goal in robotics has been to make robots more humane by incorporating features like artificial muscles for flexible movement and sensors to sense touch. 

To make this possible, engineers have now developed a first-of-its-kind “RobotSweater” that will enable better interaction with humans. The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a machine-knitted textile “skin” that can be wrapped around the robot’s body to detect contact and pressure. 

“We can use that to make the robot smarter during its interaction with humans,” said Changliu Liu, an…