Sweater-Wrapped Robots Can Feel, React to Human Touch

RobotSweater, developed at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, is a machine-knitted textile “skin” that can sense contact and pressure. Once knitted, the fabric can be used to help the robot “feel” when a human touches it. Current industry solutions for detecting human-robot interaction look like shields and use very rigid materials that can’t cover the robot’s entire body because some parts need to deform. Learn more in this video.

“With RobotSweater, the robot’s whole body can be covered, so it can detect any possible collisions,” said Changliu Liu , an assistant professor of robotics in the School of Computer Science.