[kaibee]

> - Industrial robots do have very sensitive motor and arm feedback. However, these systems are bulky and unsafe to integrate into household robotic technologies. Sensors like AnySkin could be used as a powerful, lightweight solution in these scenarios, potentially by integrating with some exciting recent household robotics models like Robot Utility Models.

I bet having good touch sense would let you get away with much cheaper mechanical systems for the robots.

[MaxikCZ]

Industrial robots are mainly bulky because they need to be very robust and precise at almost incredible speeds. (I work with those). Its not uncommon to have a 500+ kg robot on 500kg rail (totaling 7 axes) to actuate a 1mm wide, 5cm long nozzle, and moving it at speeds of 1+ meter/second, while navigating it in a gap where it has 0.5mm space on each side of the nozzle. Consistently, all day every day.

Lots of industrial robots arent even meant to touch their work piece, yet the robustness is the only way to make the whole assembly rigid enough.

I can imagine a touch-sense equiped arm could be made way smaller (less rigidity being compensated by quick enough feedback loop), but the speeds would probably have to decrease quite a bit. Not a problem for home robots tho.