(zaman.com) - Robotic technology is advancing at a dizzying rate.
According to Scientific American magazine, scientists have successfully concluded studies to equip robots with the sense of touch, formerly a significant hurdle in robotic technology, reports Trend.
Robots will be able to sense varying degrees of hardness and softness in the objects they touch.
This advancement is a turning point for surgeries.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska developed a new sensor that has a tactile sensitivity similar to that of human fingertips.
The new sensor is 50 times more sensitive than existing technology.
The sensor produces information through optic imaging that enables fast data processing to perform real-time tasks.
In the first experiment performed by researchers, the optic imaging system showed a tool slipping off the robotic arm and successfully ordered the arm grasp the tool firmly.
Designers of the system, Vivek Maheshwari and Ravi Saraf, said experiments conducted using coins were also successful.
According to Saraf, the ultra-sensitive system will one day be able to discern cancerous cells from normal cells.
Thanks to the sense of touch provided by the sensor, in robot-performed surgery, only malignant cells would be removed.