[funky music]
>> REBECCA KRAMER-BOTTIGLIO: A robotic skin is
a planar skin-like substrate
with embedded robotic function.
We can take those skins and wrap
them around inanimate objects
and turn those objects into robots.
>> SHUTTLE DISPATCHER: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…0…
Liftoff!
>> REBECCA KRAMER-BOTTIGLIO: We originally
developed this technology
for NASA.
So the idea is to have
repurposeable hardware in space.
The cost of sending multiple
robots into space that perform
multiple functions is very,
very high.
So we wanted to be
able to create a technology that
could apply to
whatever objects might be available.
The robotic skins contain
embedded actuators and sensors,
and can impart controlled
motions onto the objects they
wrapped around.
They're designed to be removable
and transferable,
so we can apply the skins onto one object
to perform a task,
then remove them and apply them to a different object to perform
a different task.
The skins are also modular, meaning we can use
individual skins to generate
simple motions, or combine them
to achieve more complex motions,
and therefore more complex tasks.
Ultimately, we designed the
skins to be applied to,
removed from, reoriented on,
and transferred between objects.
So a user can create robots
on-the-fly to accomplish variable
tasks on-demand.
Especially the robotic skins
that we've created are really
lendable to wearable
demonstrations.
So just like you would wrap a robotic skin around an object,
you can also wrap it
around yourself.
One of the demos that we've created
is showing the robotic skin on
an upper body garment using
the sensors in the scan to track
posture,
and then pulsing actuators when you pass a certain posture threshold,
to communicate with the wearer
that they should sit back up.
So in short,
we can take everyday objects
and turn them into robots.
