Engineers develop “robo-whiskers” to sense surroundings

Researchers have developed “robo-whiskers” to mimic the whiskers of animals. Animals use whiskers to make out their environment, hunt, and explore in the dark. The new technology uses five 15cm long Nitinol wires to gauge movement and build up a picture of the surroundings in a computer. Researchers said it shows “great potential to be a useful, if unconventional, sensing system”.