Artificial Intelligence

The robots of the future can do much more than work in factories - this is what they'll look like

Interactions between people and machines continue to increase. Image: REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido

Michael Ford
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Materials Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
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Artificial Intelligence

Soft multifunctional materials will be used in soft robotics and wearable computers, for example, and will perform many different tasks simultaneously.
Image: Michael Ford
A soft robot with a stretchable and electrically conductive circuit that is self-healing.
Image: Soft Machines Lab
Liquid crystal elastomers are a type of shape memory material that can be programmed into a specific shape, like this 3-D face, and then reversibly transform into another shape, such as a flat sheet.
Image: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University
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Top: The damage-sensing composite is connected to a light-emitting diode to indicate that conductivity is active. When the damage is severe enough, new conductive pathways form. The new conductive pathways cause the composite to ‘respond’ by actuating. Bottom: The composite can reversibly morph in complex ways, like this dome that flattens when activated.
Image: Ford et al, PNAS
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Related topics:
Artificial IntelligenceAdvanced MaterialsChemical and Materials IndustryFourth Industrial RevolutionLeadershipFuture of Work
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