German scientists are training robots to 'feel' pain

Johannes Kuehn and Professor Sami Haddadin from the Leibniz University of Hannover presented their work at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Sweden last week. In the video below, you can see them demonstrating their "nervous robot-tissue model that is inspired by the human skin structure" on a robotic arm. The robotic nervous system classifies pain as light, moderate (such as strong collisions) or severe (anything that can damage the machine). "In the [light] pain class, such contacts occur that may harm the robot or prevent it from performing the task. The robot "feels" uncomfortable and shall smoothly retract until the contact event is over and return thereafter.