Tech
A team of researchers at UC Riverside have developed a pneumatic computer memory to help soft robots play piano.
About a week ago a group of engineers at UC Riverside created an air-powered computer memory to fine-tune soft robots movements, eliminating the need for bulkier hardware like electronic valves and computers.
“The researchers made their pneumatic random-access memory, or RAM, chip using microfluidic valves instead of electronic transistors...Dense arrays of these valves can perform advanced operations and reduce the expensive, bulky, and power-consuming electronic hardware typically used to control pneumatic robots.”
Ultimately the end result of the project was the production of an 8-bit pneumatic RAM chip able to control larger and faster-moving soft robots, which was incorporated into a pair of 3-D printed rubber hands.
When soft robotics is applied to something like an autonomous dog it can feel daunting but there’s something much less ominous associated with live instrumentation.
“In theory, this system could be used to operate other robots without any electronic hardware and only a battery-powered pump to create a vacuum...Robots using this technology would be especially safe for delicate use on or around humans, such as wearable devices for infants with motor impairments.”