A research team integrated a temperature regulation system into artificial skin that can give prosthetic hands lifelike temperature. They drew inspiration from the human body’s natural temperature control via blood flow, and used a fiber network to simulate blood vessels in the artificial skin. Water flows through the fibers under specific temperature and flow conditions, forming a controlled heat release system. The heat emission can be adjusted by changing the dilation of these fibers by modulating the frequency of circulation.
In testing, the researchers found that the method could replicate the varied thermal characteristics of human faces and hand areas. In robotic faces, the thermal emissions made the robotic faces appear more human-like in infrared images and gave the prosthetic hands a more natural temperature.
The open-access study, “Thermoregulatory integration in hand prostheses and humanoid robots through blood vessel simulation,” was published in Nature.
