Oscillating gels may one day grant robots a sense of touch

Researchers at MIT and the University of Pittsburgh have successfully resuscitated non-oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) gel by exerting a mechanical force: a process akin to the resuscitation of a human heart. By exhibiting a chemical response to a mechanical stimulus (a rare feat for non-living matter), it’s thought the material could lead to the development of artificial skin that would enable robots to feel and self-repair.

“Think of it like human skin, which can provide signals to the brain that something on the body is deformed or hurt,” said Anna Balazs, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering at Pittsburgh. “This gel has numerous far-reaching applications, such as artificial skin that could be sensory - a holy grail in robotics.”

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