Multi-Modal Tactile Sensing

See also TactileSensingChapter

Goal

Achieve a sensory capability that provides an integrated combination of inputs including thermal, pressure, contact, and slippage sensing. Ideally one would achieve the system in a way that uses a small number of different transduction and instrumentation technologies. In particular, if a single basic transducer technology (such as optical devices) can be adapted to all of these sensory modalities, the problems of sensing, instrumentation and signal processing will be reduced and system reliability will be higher. This approach is in contrast to the few, integrated sensor systems that have been developed previously in which thermocouples, capacitive sensors, strain gages and piezoelectric elements -- each having quite different requirements in terms of power supplies, shielding, instrumentation, etc. -- are combined on a robot finger.

References

The literature can be divided into categories corresponding to the main tactile modality(ies) involved:

• IntegratedSensorySystems (which may include thermal and pressure sensors)
• SlippageDetection systems
• ThermalSensing systems
• PressureAndContactSensing systems

-- MarkCutkosky - 02 Sep 2005