The rat's whiskers

Sensors that twitch their 'whiskers' like a rat to detect their surroundings in dark and possibly dangerous environments is the goal of a four-year EU touch sensing project.

The BIOmimetic Technology for vibrissal ACtive Touch (

) project will include UK involvement from the

and

.

The resulting technology could have a number of applications such as search and rescue robots that pick their way through rubble and debris, mine-clearing machines or even planetary rovers.

The technique could also be used in domestic goods such as vacuum cleaners to sense textures for optimal cleaning, or in the textile industry where long thin sensors could feel for problems within the weave of a fabric.

While vision supplies information about distant objects, touch is invaluable in sensing the nearby environment, yet has often been overlooked in system design.

'We have predominantly focused on our own main sense which is vision,' explained Bristol Robotics deputy director Tony Pipe, who has worked with his colleague Martin Pearson for the last few years developing a robot that uses whiskers for artificial touch technology.