Development of Robots with Soft Sensor Flesh for Achieving Close Interaction Behavior

In order to achieve robots' working around humans, safe contacts against objects, humans, and environments with broad area of their body should be allowed. Furthermore, it is desirable to actively use those contacts for achieving tasks. Considering that, many practical applications will be realized by whole-body close interaction of many contacts with others. Therefore, robots are strongly expected to achieve whole-body interaction behavior with objects around them. Recently, it becomes possible to construct whole-body tactile sensor network by the advancement of research for tactile sensing system. Using such tactile sensors, some research groups have developed robots with whole-body tactile sensing exterior. However, their basic strategy is making a distributed 1-axis tactile sensor network covered with soft thin material. Those are not sufficient for achieving close interaction and detecting complicated contact changes. Therefore, we propose “Soft Sensor Flesh.” Basic idea of “Soft Sensor Flesh” is constructing robots' exterior with soft and thick foam with many sensor elements including multiaxis tactile sensors. In this paper, a constructing method for the robot systems with such soft sensor flesh is argued. Also, we develop some prototypes of soft sensor flesh and verify the feasibility of the proposed idea by actual behavior experiments.

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STAND-UP MOTION SUPPORT BY A MOBILE MANIPULATOR SYSTEM WITH HIGH SPEED TACTILE SENSORS

International Journal of Information Acquisition ◽

10.1142/s0219878911002458 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 08 (03) ◽

pp. 181-195

Author(s):

ZHAOXIAN XIE ◽

HISASHI YAMAGUCHI ◽

MASAHITO TSUKANO ◽

AIGUO MING ◽

MAKOTO SHIMOJO

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Logic ◽

Feedback Control ◽

Experimental Verification ◽

High Speed ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Mobile Manipulator ◽

Tactile Sensing ◽

Robot Arm ◽

Tactile Sensors

As one of the home services by a mobile manipulator system, we are aiming at the realization of the stand-up motion support for elderly people. This work is charaterized by the use of real-time feedback control based on the information from high speed tactile sensors for detecting the contact force as well as its center of pressure between the assisted human and the robot arm. First, this paper introduces the design of the tactile sensor as well as initial experimental results to show the feasibility of the proposed system. Moreover, several fundamental tactile sensing-based motion controllers necessary for the stand-up motion support and their experimental verification are presented. Finally, an assist trajectory generation method for the stand-up motion support by integrating fuzzy logic with tactile sensing is proposed and demonstrated experimentally.

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Magnetostrictive tactile sensor of detecting friction and normal force for object recognition

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems ◽

10.1177/1729881420932327 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 172988142093232

Author(s):

Bing Zhang ◽

Bowen Wang ◽

Yunkai Li ◽

Shaowei Jin

Keyword(s):

Recognition Rate ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Tactile Sensing ◽

Dynamic Force ◽

Force Output ◽

Tactile Sensors ◽

Tactile Information ◽

Normal Contact ◽

New Type ◽

Learning Machine

Tactile information is valuable in determining properties of objects that are inaccessible from visual perception. A new type of tangential friction and normal contact force magnetostrictive tactile sensor was developed based on the inverse magnetostrictive effect, and the force output model has been established. It can measure the exerted force in the range of 0–4 N, and it has a good response to the dynamic force in cycles of 0.25–0.5 s. We present a tactile perception strategy that a manipulator with tactile sensors in its grippers manipulates an object to measure a set of tactile features. It shows that tactile sensing system can use these features and the extreme learning machine algorithm to recognize household objects—purely from tactile sensing—from a small training set. The complex matrixes show the recognition rate is up to 83%.

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Detecting Feature of Haptic Interaction Based on Distributed Tactile Sensor Network on Whole Body

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics ◽

10.20965/jrm.2007.p0042 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 42-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tomoyuki Noda ◽

◽

Takahiro Miyashita ◽

Hiroshi Ishiguro ◽

Kiyoshi Kogure ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sensor Network ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

The Self ◽

Whole Body ◽

Transmission Protocol ◽

Processing Unit ◽

Haptic Interaction ◽

Tactile Information ◽

Self Organized ◽

Basic Experiments

To extract information about users contacting robots physically, the distribution density of tactile sensor elements, the sampling rate, and the resolution all must be high, increasing the volume of tactile information. In the self-organized skin sensor network we propose for dealing with a large number of tactile sensors embedded throughout a humanoid robot, each network node having a processing unit is connected to tactile sensor elements and other nodes. By processing tactile information in the network based on the situation, individual nodes process and reduce information rapidly in high sampling. They also secure information transmission routes to the host PC using a data transmission protocol for self-organizing sensor networks. In this paper, we verify effectiveness of our proposal through sensor network emulation and basic experiments in spatiotemporal calculation of tactile information using prototype hardware. As an emulation result of the self-organized sensor network, routes to the host PC are secured at each node, and a tree-like network is constructed recursively with the node as a root. As the basic experiments, we describe an edge detection as data processing and extraction for haptic interaction. In conclusion, local information processing is effective for detecting features of haptic interaction.

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2P1-N-102 Detecting Feature of Haptic Interaction Based on Distributed Tactile Sensor Network on Whole Body(Tactile and Force Sense 5,Mega-Integration in Robotics and Mechatronics to Assist Our Daily Lives)

The Proceedings of JSME annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (Robomec) ◽

10.1299/jsmermd.2005.198_3 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 2005 (0) ◽

pp. 198

Author(s):

Tomoyuki NODA ◽

Takahiro MIYASHITA ◽

Hiroshi ISHIGURO ◽

Kiyoshi KOGURE ◽

Norihiro HAGITA

Keyword(s):

Sensor Network ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Whole Body ◽

Haptic Interaction ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Force Sense

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Acquisition and Realization of a Rolling-Over Motion for a Humanoid with Soft Sensor Flesh

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics ◽

10.20965/jrm.2008.p0241 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 241-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tomoaki Yoshikai ◽

◽

Takashi Sagisaka ◽

Marika Hayashi ◽

Masayuki Inaba

Keyword(s):

Design Method ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Soft Sensor ◽

Dynamics Simulation ◽

Whole Body ◽

Body Contact ◽

Motion Trajectories ◽

Evolutionary Technique ◽

Behavior Design ◽

Sensor Information

Behavior design with rich sensor information is very important in realizing close interaction using whole-body contact. Our research target is to construct behavior design method taking into account the mutual interaction between a robot’s tactile sensor information and its motion trajectories. In this paper, a behavior acquisition framework using an evolutionary technique is constructed based on a dynamics simulation model including the emulation of tactile sensing. Furthermore, acquired rolling-over motions are tested using an actual humanoid “macra” with soft sensor flesh, and the results are analyzed and discussed for confirming the feasibility of our proposed system.

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A Vibrissa-Inspired Highly Flexible Tactile Sensor: Scanning 3D Object Surfaces Providing Tactile Images

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21051572 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

pp. 1572

Author(s):

Lukas Merker ◽

Joachim Steigenberger ◽

Rafael Marangoni ◽

Carsten Behn

Keyword(s):

Steel Wire ◽

Sense Organ ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Tactile Sensors ◽

Measuring Device ◽

3D Object ◽

Torque Transducer ◽

Sense Of Touch ◽

Important Basis ◽

Support Reactions

Just as the sense of touch complements vision in various species, several robots could benefit from advanced tactile sensors, in particular when operating under poor visibility. A prominent tactile sense organ, frequently serving as a natural paragon for developing tactile sensors, is the vibrissae of, e.g., rats. Within this study, we present a vibrissa-inspired sensor concept for 3D object scanning and reconstruction to be exemplarily used in mobile robots. The setup consists of a highly flexible rod attached to a 3D force-torque transducer (measuring device). The scanning process is realized by translationally shifting the base of the rod relative to the object. Consequently, the rod sweeps over the object’s surface, undergoing large bending deflections. Then, the support reactions at the base of the rod are evaluated for contact localization. Presenting a method of theoretically generating these support reactions, we provide an important basis for future parameter studies. During scanning, lateral slip of the rod is not actively prevented, in contrast to literature. In this way, we demonstrate the suitability of the sensor for passively dragging it on a mobile robot. Experimental scanning sweeps using an artificial vibrissa (steel wire) of length 50 mm and a glass sphere as a test object with a diameter of 60 mm verify the theoretical results and serve as a proof of concept.

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IoTouch: whole-body tactile sensing technology toward the tele-touch

Advanced Robotics ◽

10.1080/01691864.2021.1925588 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Van Anh Ho ◽

Shotaro Nakayama

Keyword(s):

Whole Body ◽

Tactile Sensing ◽

Sensing Technology

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Soft magnetic skin for super-resolution tactile sensing with force self-decoupling

Science Robotics ◽

10.1126/scirobotics.abc8801 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (51) ◽

pp. eabc8801

Author(s):

Youcan Yan ◽

Zhe Hu ◽

Zhengbao Yang ◽

Wenzhen Yuan ◽

Chaoyang Song ◽

...

Keyword(s):

External Disturbance ◽

Super Resolution ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Tactile Sensors ◽

Dexterous Manipulation ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Flexible Film ◽

Challenging Tasks ◽

External Forces

Human skin can sense subtle changes of both normal and shear forces (i.e., self-decoupled) and perceive stimuli with finer resolution than the average spacing between mechanoreceptors (i.e., super-resolved). By contrast, existing tactile sensors for robotic applications are inferior, lacking accurate force decoupling and proper spatial resolution at the same time. Here, we present a soft tactile sensor with self-decoupling and super-resolution abilities by designing a sinusoidally magnetized flexible film (with the thickness ~0.5 millimeters), whose deformation can be detected by a Hall sensor according to the change of magnetic flux densities under external forces. The sensor can accurately measure the normal force and the shear force (demonstrated in one dimension) with a single unit and achieve a 60-fold super-resolved accuracy enhanced by deep learning. By mounting our sensor at the fingertip of a robotic gripper, we show that robots can accomplish challenging tasks such as stably grasping fragile objects under external disturbance and threading a needle via teleoperation. This research provides new insight into tactile sensor design and could be beneficial to various applications in robotics field, such as adaptive grasping, dexterous manipulation, and human-robot interaction.

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Representation and tactile sensing of 3-D objects by a gripper finger

Robotica ◽

10.1017/s0263574700002149 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 217-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Gen-Ichiro Kinoshita

Keyword(s):

Tactile Sensor ◽

Large Displacement ◽

Tactile Sensing ◽

Sensor Element ◽

Maximum Displacement

SUMMARYThe tactile sensor is constructed as a part of the finger of a parallel jaw hand; it is of the size of a finger and allows for a large displacement of the sensor element in response to force. The structure of the tactile sensor incorporates 20 successively and closely aligned elements, which allow for a 2.5 mm maximum displacement for each element. In the described experiments we present the capabilities of the tactile sensor. The tactile sensor has the functions of: 1) discriminating the shape of the partial surface of an object; and 2) tracing by finger on the surface along the profile of an object.

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