Japanese researchers behind the development of this new rubber say it can conduct electricity pretty well and makes the stretchable material the ideal “e-skin” for robots to enable them to feel both heat and pressure.

The University of Tokyo’s technology has the flexibility of regular rubber yet its conductivity is 570 times higher than commercial rubbers which are filled with carbon particles.

The material is made by grinding carbon nanotubes, or tube-shaped carbon molecules, with an ionic liquid and then adding it to rubber.

Artificial skin for robots is one important application for this new material said Tsuyoshi Sekitani, a research associate from the School of Engineering. “As robots enter our everyday life, they need to have sensors everywhere on their bodies like humans, Imagine them bumping into babies, Robots need to feel temperatures, heat and pressure like we do to co-exist otherwise it would be dangerous,” he said.

Sekitani said the new material could be used on the surface of steering wheels to analyse perspiration, body temperature and other driver data and judge the ability to drive.

This rubber conductor is still in its infancy but the team hope to show it in action over the coming months.

Via AFP