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computer-controlled actuators changes of skin temperature,
that make contact with the skin. simulating the different rates at
“The computer imagines you are which heat is transferred to and
moving each bit of your finger over from the skin by different
the material, and works out what materials. Jones says her team has
mechanical input would be applied identified how different materials
to your finger,” says Summers. conduct heat, and how to adjust
“With something like fur it current in their device to convince
doesn’t have to press very hard.” subjects that they are touching
Our sense of touch can also use metal or plastic, for example.
temperature changes to helps us Jones is exploring how this
identify materials. Haptics could help people with
researcher Lynette Jones at the impairment to their sensory
Massachusetts Institute of systems, such as the nerve damage
Technology has devised a mouse- caused by diabetes. Haptic devices
like contraption that exploits this,could be used to retrain their
in which the temperature changes senses, by tricking them to grasp
are produced by the Peltier effect –objects more tightly than their
the heating or cooling that occurs damaged nerves suggest is needed.
when current flows between two It is not just the sense of touch
dissimilar metals. Running current in our fingers that is attracting the
through strips of metal laid one on attention of haptics researchers.
top of another on the surface of the
mouse allows rapid changes to be
Instead, Yon Visell at the Centre
for Intelligent Machines at McGill
made to the temperature sensed
by the subject’s fingers when they
University in Montreal, Canada, is
focusing on the feet, and has
graspit. “You can get them to developed a novel surface
respond very quickly, on the order designed to simulate walking on
of milliseconds,” says Jones. This different types of ground. It uses a
can be used to induce rapid series of 30-centimetre tiles, each
with sensors at its corners and an
actuator similar to a loudspeaker
ReuTeRs/Thomas peTeRs
coil mounted beneath it. By
modelling the properties of
various surfaces and calculating
what vibrating forces the coil
should apply as different parts of
the foot make contact with it,
Visell has been able to mimic the
sensation of walking on solid
ground, gravel or sand.
Visell’s tiles could be used to
help rehabilitate people who have
difficulty walking. By making
them feel as if they are walking on
a soft, compliant surface like sand,
for example, their muscles could
be retrained to lift the foot higher
to ensure that it clears the ground
between steps.
So far, haptics researchers
have concentrated on individual
facets of our sense of touch, but
Hayward looks forward to future
applications which will combine
them. For example, by vibrating a
Peltier device it should be possible
to convey temperature and texture
–Where' s the feedback?– information in a single surface. n
Nasa' s underwater rover
SOLO-TREC gets all its power from changes in sea temperature
as it travels from the cold depths to the warmer surface
In warm water wax on the
craft’s surface melts and
expands, compressing pipes
and squeezing the oil inside
into a high-pressure tank
Once the tank is full, a valve
is released and the oil passes
through a hydraulic turbine –
generating energy to charge
batteries – the oil is then held
in a low-pressure tank
As the vessel descends, the
wax solidifies and contracts,
pulling the oil back into the
central tubes.
CYLINDER
Energy stored in the batteries
can then be used to help the
craft rise to warmer waters,
where the process can
begin again
Tireless robot runs and runs
on the ocean' s heat
EAT your heart out, Duracell bunny:
NASA has unveiled an ocean-going
robot that really can go on forever.
It is the first of its kind to be fuelled
entirely by renewable energy.
This month the agency revealed
that SOLO-TREC, a wax-filled buoy
powered only by the temperature
differences in the water around it,
has been tirelessly diving to depths
of 500 metres off the Hawaiian coast
three times a day since November
2009. The float gathers data on
temperature and salinity to improve
studies of ocean currents.
SOLO-TREC extracts thermal
energy from the ocean each time
it travels from the cold depths to
the warmer surface. Tubes of
oil on its shell are surrounded by a
compartment filled with two
different waxes. They flip from solid
to liquid when the sea temperature
exceeds 10 °C, and expand by 13 per
cent (see diagram).
The expanding wax squeezes oil
from the tubes into the float' s
interior, where it is stored at high
pressure. The oil can then be released
to drive a generator and charge
batteries. They power the pumps that
take on and expel water so the buoy
OIL
HIGH- LOW-
PRESSURE PRESSURE
TANK TANK
VALVE
TURBINE
GEARBOX AND
WAX
GENERATOR
BATTERIES
can dive and surface, and also the
float' s GPS receiver, sensors and
the transmitter that beams data to
satellites when at the surface.
ª Each full dive generates about
200 watts for 30 seconds,” says Jack
Jones, one of the project' s leaders at
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California.
He and colleagues hope to create
large numbers of the floats to boost
existing monitoring of oceanic
conditions, which helps in weather
and climate prediction.
More mobile robots that use the
technology are planned. Teledyne
Webb Research in Falmouth,
ª The buoy can recharge as it
travels to the warm surface.
Each dive generates about
200 watts for 30 seconds”
Massachusetts, makes winged
robots that ª glide” underwater using
thermal wax to control buoyancy.
But they need batteries for their
electronics.
The US Office of Naval Research
has asked the two teams for ideas for
gliders that will never need a battery
change. Rachel Courtland n
24 April 2010 | NewScientist | 19