{"id":236968,"date":"2026-05-12T02:38:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/this-tiny-grain-of-rice-sensor-gives-robots-a-new-sense-and-changes-what-delicate-tools-can-detect"},"modified":"2026-05-12T02:38:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:38:41","slug":"this-tiny-grain-of-rice-sensor-gives-robots-a-new-sense-and-changes-what-delicate-tools-can-detect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/this-tiny-grain-of-rice-sensor-gives-robots-a-new-sense-and-changes-what-delicate-tools-can-detect","title":{"rendered":"This tiny grain-of-rice sensor gives robots a new sense and changes what delicate tools can detect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/this-tiny-grain-of-rice-sensor-gives-robots-a-new-sense-and-changes-what-delicate-tools-can-detect.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Researchers have developed a sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can measure forces and twisting motions in all directions using light instead of traditional electronics. The new sensor could help robotic tools and medical devices \u201cfeel\u201d what they are touching, especially at very small scales.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough modern imaging systems can show structures clearly, they do not provide information about physical interaction, such as force or torque, and existing force sensors are often too bulky or complex to fit into miniature tools,\u201d said research team leader Jianlong Yang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. \u201cBy allowing machines to measure contact force, pressure, shear and twisting, our technology could make it possible for robots to detect unsafe contact early and adjust their actions in real time, especially in small and sensitive environments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In <i>Optica<\/i> journal, the researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/opg.optica.org\/abstract.cfm?URI=optica-13-5-884\" target=\"_blank\">describe<\/a> their new sensor, which measures just 1.7 millimeters and uses a <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-12-optical-nanoscale-sensors-access-previously.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal\" rel=\"related\">single optical signal<\/a> to measure forces and torques in all directions at once. Proof-of-concept tests showed that the sensor can detect stiffness variations and locate hidden structures in models that mimic a tumor embedded in tissue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have developed a sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can measure forces and twisting motions in all directions using light instead of traditional electronics. The new sensor could help robotic tools and medical devices \u201cfeel\u201d what they are touching, especially at very small scales. \u201cAlthough modern imaging systems can show [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}