Chinese boffins build soft robot finger that can take your pulse

Robot hands are commonplace, but their sense of touch is crude compared to that of a human. A design proposed by a group of scientists in the Middle Kingdom may change that. A team at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a bioinspired soft finger (BSF) that uses sensors to give bots the ability to …

[Anonymous Coward]

It just had to happen ...

China is finally giving us the finger ... all 129 mm of it!

[Little Mouse]

Re: It just had to happen ...

Never mind the length... etc

And can it make small circles?

Just asking. For a friend.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Re: It just had to happen ...

Indeed. You could say the meaning has come full circle for this digital probe...

[An_Old_Dog]

Doctor-Robot

... speaking to male patient in examining room: "Please turn around and bend over ... you may experience some mild discomfort."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Doctor-Robot

You can't beat a cheeky robot finger up the bum.

[Pascal Monett]

"It could also be used in the home"

One step closer to the ultimate sexbot . . .

[Efer Brick]

Re: "It could also be used in the home"

Handshandy?

[Little Mouse]

I see a lot of potential here

And yet there's no smut or innuendo or "Ooh, Matron!" in the article at all.

[Chasxith]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

Is that a robot finger in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

[Rob Daglish]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

Yes, standards are slipping everywhere, including El Reg. In the good old days, this is the sort of comment section where the Moderatrix would definitely be kept busy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

If she wasn't already busy doing *ahem* something else

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

Ahhhh ... product testing!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

"And yet there's no smut or innuendo or "Ooh, Matron!" in the article at all."

They've left that to the Commentariat, knowing full well what would happen.

[Norfolk N Chance]

Re: I see a lot of potential here

Oh, I think the "click to enlarge" caption below the photo was sufficient in these enlightened times.

[DS999]

Is your robot finger flipping me off?

Or does it want to check my prostate?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Is your robot finger flipping me off?

The Terminator meets Deliverance (1972) ...

[imanidiot]

I really have to wonder if people would actually be more comfortable with a robot digit performing such a test over a doctor. For many people it doesn't so much seem to be the actual exam but the whole process around it, and in that regard it may not actually be much of an improvement (or actually make it worse).

[Alan Brown]

I can't speak to anyone else's experiences but a prostate exam HURTS whilst having 3+ feet of camera applied internally is only mildly uncomfortable

[imanidiot]

Then you either had a bad doctor or a medical reason for pressure there to hurt, because it shouldn't (hasn't for me, ever). And colonoscopies are generally done under mild anesthetic so of course it would hurt less. I doubt it would be "mildly uncomfortable" without any sedation

[Richard Gray 1]

Hacked healthcare

The last thing I want is a digit with unknown max strength inserted into me.

Making sure that it's not compromised with viruses could be a real PITA.

[Giles C]

Re: Hacked healthcare

Just fit a surgical glove to it

[Wellyboot]

Re: Hacked healthcare

Will fitting a glove require human intervention?

[Richard Gray 1]

Re: Hacked healthcare

that won't cover the viruses I was thinking of...

just think if they ran Kaspersky on it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Hacked healthcare

Hmmm, if it responds as well as an Iranian centrifuge, you could be in for quite a treat!

[big_D]

Why?

I keep seeing stories for robotic fingers taking pulse, androids that will replace farmers in fields, androids that will replace humans in factories...

WHY? Why, oh why, oh why?

We already have more efficient and reliable devices that can take a pulse.

We already have agricultural machines that are much more efficient than humans at working fields - and often highly automated already.

We already have industrial robots in factories that are much more efficient than humans at putting stuff together.

So, why are these people, usually tech billionaires, wasting money on making inefficient ways of replacing existing efficient hardware, but in humanoid form?

Surely a machine using lasers that can currently remove weeds over a 20M wide stretch of land is more efficient that building a humanoid robot, for example, that picks out the weeds individually?

In this case, making a more sensitive claw or grappler might be of use - although many industrial robots can already grip very lightly - for example testing eggs...

Surely a machine that can pick cabbages/potatoes/beans/corn etc. from multiple rows in a field at several hundred per minute is more efficient than building a humanoid robot to pick them individually?

[imanidiot]

Re: Why?

Usually because they fall into the trap of adaptability. Their idea is that ONE machine can be adapted to do a lot of different tasks so that in the end it's cheaper than buying dedicated machines for everything. What they forget is just how much faster and more efficient a dedicated machine (or just a human with a finger) is.