3D printing technology is among the most important technologies of recent years. In fact, this technology has the potential to be used to produce artificial organs in the future.
Now, researchers from the University of Bristol in England report that they have developed fingertips that feel the same as human skin with 3D printers. According to the research’s findings, published in two papers in the journal Royal Society Interface, this invention may offer a solution to the problem that machines cannot grasp things like a human.
Artificial leather similar to human skin was developed with 3D printers
Unlike humans, machines that do not have tactile fingertips, therefore cannot grasp objects with the dexterity of a human. But that roughness may be eliminated, thanks to researchers at the University of Bristol recreating the sense of touch using a network of needle-like projections that mimic the ‘dermal papilla’ on our skin that also makes our fingerprints.
Prof. Nathan Lepora from Bristol University’s Department of Engineering Mathematics, who stated that his work has helped to reveal how the complex internal structure of human skin creates our human sense of touch, said, “This is an exciting development in the field of soft robotics – tactile skin in 3D. Being able to print can create more dexterous robots or significantly improve the performance of prosthetic hands by giving them a built-in sense of touch.”
However, Lepora believes that 3D-printed artificial nerve recordings in fingertips are comparable to real records from more than 40 years ago. Lepora states that the real records are very complex, with the hills and slopes on the edges and ridges, and notes that the same shapes are also present in the artificial tactile data.
Articular nerves in the artificial fingertips , real p It is very similar to the lower end recordings
Noting that there is a very close match between the artificial fingertip and the nerve signals received in humans, the researchers stated that the artificial fingertip is not that sensitive to fine details. is doing. The reason for this may be that the skin created with the 3D printer is thicker than the skin of adult humans; However, it is stated that this problem can be eliminated with the development of the same technology to print on a microscopic scale in the future.
On the other hand, Lepora adds that their main aim is to make artificial leather as good as real leather, or even better.
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