Soft robotic shell with active thermal display.

Almost all robotic systems in use have hard shells, which is limiting in many ways their full potential of physical interaction with humans or their surrounding environment. Robots with soft-shell covers offer an alternative morphology which is more pleasant in both appearance and for haptic human interaction. A persisting challenge in such soft-shell robotic covers is the simultaneous realization of softness and heat-conducting properties.

Relationship between Photoelasticity of Polyurethane and Dielectric Anisotropy of Diisocyanate, and Application of High-Photoelasticity Polyurethane to Tactile Sensor for Robot Hands.

Eight types of polyurethane were synthesized using seven types of diisocyanate. It was found that the elasto-optical constant depends on the concentration of diisocyanate groups in a unit volume of a polymer and the magnitude of anisotropy of the dielectric constant of diisocyanate groups. It was also found that incident light scattered when bending stress was generated inside photoelastic polyurethanes.