A unique robot has been created by researchers the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, which is capable of walking on human skin thanks to a unique suction system. Aptly named Skinbot the small palm sized robot has been specifically designed to crawl over human body and uses suction technology inspired by the adhesive abilities of leeches or cephalopods. Watch the demonstration video below to learn more about the unique Skinbot and its suction pads, “Epidermal robots are small robots that can move on the skin”.
“Epidermal sensing has enabled significant advancements towards the measurement and understanding of health. Most of the existing medical instruments require direct expert manipulation of a doctor, measure a single parameter, and/or have limited sensing coverage. In contrast, this work demonstrates the first epidermal robot with the ability to move over the surface of the skin and capture a large range of body parameters.
In particular, we developed SkinBot, a 2x4x2 centimeter-size robot that moves over the skin surface with a two-legged suction-based locomotion. We demonstrate three of the potential medical sensing applications which include the measurement of body biopotentials (e.g., electrodermal activity, electrocardiography) through modified suction cups that serve as electrodes, skin imaging through a skin-facing camera that can capture skin anomalies, and inertial body motions through a 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope that can capture changes of body posture and subtle cardiorespiratory vibrations.”
For more information on the Skinbot and to read the official paper jump over to the ACM website by following the link below.
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