Researchers have developed these soft, robotic microfingers which allow humans to consort with insects and interact with the environment, giving them a chance to touch microorganisms with this technology. The tech came from the Ritsumeikan University in Japan, where the so-called "Soft Microfingers" was born to let humans interact with their environment.
These delicate fingers will let humans touch smaller organisms rather than simply monitoring their behaviors and waiting for them to drop by for researchers to examine them.
Soft Microfingers Develop from Japan for a Delicate Touch
(Photo : Ritsumeikan University via Scientific Reports)
The Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, has developed the "Soft Microfingers" technology which aims to deliver a delicate touch to handle different insects or microorganisms with care. According to its press release, these new robotic fingers aim to help improve human interactions with their environment, one that would allow it even for the most delicate of things or organisms.
The researchers focused on a device that will help humans exert less effort, one that would focus on a human to insect interaction, furthering its study and assimilation.
Its study centered on furthering the study of insect behavior alone, adding humans to the equation and how they interact with animals. The device has a reaction force of only ~10mN, measured from the legs of a pill bug.
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Tech for Allowing Human-Environment Interactions
The team published their paper in the Scientific Reports journal, and here, they enumerate how they developed the Soft Microfingers technology, which they intend for multiple uses. This technology allows a safe and different experience that centers on human-environment interactions, centering on the smaller scale that this technology aids.
Soft Robotic Fingers Development
"Handle with care" is what people would mostly read on fragile objects that require extra carefulness when handling said things, as a regular force of one's hand or fingers may result in breaking them. Also, this statement applies to certain animals who either take threats from a person's regular touch force or get hurt leading to stress or death.
There are certain animals and healthcare procedures which require the ultimate delicacy of touch and sensitivity, especially in handling certain patients or organisms to help with their life.
One project from the National University of Singapore (NUS) centers on a robot with a soft and delicate touch, something which the team intends for fragile objects and other things that need care when handling. The team who developed this focused on a way for the robot to handle fragile objects without the worry of crushing or ruining the material.
The tech industry is looking for ways to advance its robot development which centers on applying it to all kinds of life and things that require the utmost care and delicacy, something that humans may have a hard time doing themselves.
These Soft Microfingers from Japan center on delivering this capability for humans, one that would help in cultivating life and caring for insects or microorganisms.
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Written by Isaiah Richard
