scholarly journals Optical-Tactile Sensor for Lump Detection Using Pneumatic Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bewley ◽  
George P. Jenkinson ◽  
Antonia Tzemanaki
Keyword(s):  
Contact Surface ◽  
Medical Diagnosis ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Medical Robotics ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
Pneumatic Control ◽  
Tactile Contact ◽  
Lump Detection ◽  
Silicone Matrix

Soft tactile sensors are an attractive solution when robotic systems must interact with delicate objects in unstructured and obscured environments, such as most medical robotics applications. The soft nature of such a system increases both comfort and safety, while the addition of simultaneous soft active actuation provides additional features and can also improve the sensing range. This paper presents the development of a compact soft tactile sensor which is able to measure the profile of objects and, through an integrated pneumatic system, actuate and change the effective stiffness of its tactile contact surface. We report experimental results which demonstrate the sensor’s ability to detect lumps on the surface of objects or embedded within a silicone matrix. These results show the potential of this approach as a versatile method of tactile sensing with potential application in medical diagnosis.

A new approach for an ultrasensitive tactile sensor covering an ultrawide pressure range based on the hierarchical pressure-peak effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congyi Wu ◽  
Tian Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jin Huang ◽  
Xing Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Diagnosis ◽  
Pressure Range ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Peak Effect ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Intelligent Robots ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Pressure Peak ◽  
Tactile System

Flexible tactile sensors that imitate the skin tactile system have attracted extensive research interest due to their potential applications in medical diagnosis, intelligent robots and so on.

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

Sensors ◽  
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.

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

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.

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

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.

Nonparametric Object Recognition With a New Tactile Sensor

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Unsal ◽  
A. Shirkhodaie ◽  
A. H. Soni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Object Recognition ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
Binary Array ◽  
Software And Hardware ◽  
Robotic Applications

Abstract Adding sensing capability to a robot provides the robot with intelligent perception capability and flexibility of decision making. To perform intelligent tasks, robots are highly required to perceive their operating environment, and react accordingly. With this regard, tactile sensors offer to extend the scope of intelligence of a robot for performing tasks which require object touching, recognition, and manipulation. This paper presents the design of an inexpensive pneumatic binary-array tactile sensor for such robotic applications. The paper describes some of the techniques implemented for object recognition from binary sensory information. Furthermore, it details the development of software and hardware which facilitate the sensor to provide useful information to a robot so that the robot perceives its operating environment during manipulation of objects.

The Pransky interview: Dr Nabil Simaan, Vanderbilt University Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology, Thought Leader in Medical Robotics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Single Port ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Medical Robotics ◽  
Surgical Robotics ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Thought Leader ◽  
Vanderbilt University

Purpose The following article is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD and innovator regarding his pioneering efforts. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Nabil Simaan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University. He is also director of Vanderbilt’s Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Research Laboratory. In this interview, Simaan shares his unique perspective and approaches on his journey of trying to solve real-world problems in the medical robotics area. Findings Simaan received his BSc, MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He served as Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, he joined Columbia University, New York, NY, as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering until 2010, when he joined Vanderbilt. His current applied research interests include synthesis of novel robotic systems for surgical assistance in confined spaces with applications to minimally invasive surgery of the throat, natural orifice surgery, cochlear implant surgery and dexterous bimanual microsurgery. Theoretical aspects of his research include robot design and kinematics. Originality/value Dr Simaan is a leading pioneer on designing robotic systems and mechanisms for medical applications. Examples include technologies for snake robots licensed to Intuitive Surgical; technologies for micro-surgery of the retina, which led to the formation of AURIS Surgical Robotics; the insertable robotic effector platform (IREP) single-port surgery robot that served as the research prototype behind the Titan Medical Inc. Sport (Single Port Orifice Robotic Technology). Simaan received the NSF Career award for young investigators to design new algorithms and robots for safe interaction with the anatomy. He has served as the Editor for IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Editorial Board Member of Robotica, Area Chair for Robotics Science and Systems and corresponding Co-chair for the IEEE Technical Committee on Surgical Robotics. In January 2020, he was bestowed the award of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow for Robotics Advancements. At the end of 2020, he was named a top voice in health-care robotics by technology discovery platform InsightMonk and market intelligence firm BIS Research. Simaan holds 15 patents. A producer of human capital, his education goal is to achieve the best possible outcome with every student he works with.

scholarly journals A low-cost, human-like, high-resolution, tactile sensor based on optical fibers and an image sensor

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 172988141878363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Utku Büyükşahin ◽  
Ahmet Kırlı
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Image Sensor ◽  
Sensor Design ◽  
Tactile Sensors

Tactile sensors are commonly a coordinated group of receptors forming a matrix array meant to measure force or pressure similar to the human skin. Optic-based tactile sensors are flexible, sensitive, and fast; however, the human fingertip’s spatial resolution, which can be regarded as the desired spatial resolution, still could not be reached because of their bulky nature. This article proposes a novel and patented optic-based tactile sensor design, in which fiber optic cables are used to increase the number of sensory receptors per square centimeter. The proposed human-like high-resolution tactile sensor design is based on simple optics and image processing techniques, and it enables high spatial resolution and easy data acquisition at low cost. This design proposes using the change in the intesity of the light occured due to the deformation on contact/measurement surface. The main idea is using fiber optic cables as the afferents of the human physiology which can have 9 µm diameters for both delivering and receiving light beams. The variation of the light intensity enters sequent mathematical models as the input, then, the displacement, the force, and the pressure data are evaluated as the outputs. A prototype tactile sensor is manufactured with 1-mm spatial and 0.61-kPa pressure measurement resolution with 0–15.6 N/cm2 at 30 Hz sampling frequency. Experimental studies with different scenarios are conducted to demonstrate how this state-of-the-art design worked and to evaluate its performance. The overall accuracy of the first prototype, based on different scenarios, is calculated as 93%. This performance is regarded as promising for further developments and applications such as grasp control or haptics.

scholarly journals A Triboelectric-Based Artificial Whisker for Reactive Obstacle Avoidance and Local Mapping

Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Peng Xu ◽  
Xingyu Wang ◽  
Siyuan Wang ◽  
Tianyu Chen ◽  
Jianhua Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Obstacle Avoidance ◽  
Autonomous Robots ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
External Stimulation ◽  
Autonomous Surface Vehicles ◽  
Electrostatic Induction ◽  
Contact Position

Since designing efficient tactile sensors for autonomous robots is still a challenge, this paper proposes a perceptual system based on a bioinspired triboelectric whisker sensor (TWS) that is aimed at reactive obstacle avoidance and local mapping in unknown environments. The proposed TWS is based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and mimics the structure of rat whisker follicles. It operates to generate an output voltage via triboelectrification and electrostatic induction between the PTFE pellet and copper films (0.3 mm thickness), where a forced whisker shaft displaces a PTFE pellet (10 mm diameter). With the help of a biologically inspired structural design, the artificial whisker sensor can sense the contact position and approximate the external stimulation area, particularly in a dark environment. To highlight this sensor’s applicability and scalability, we demonstrate different functions, such as controlling LED lights, reactive obstacle avoidance, and local mapping of autonomous surface vehicles. The results show that the proposed TWS can be used as a tactile sensor for reactive obstacle avoidance and local mapping in robotics.

A Flexible Tactile Sensor Based on Porous Graphene Sponge for Tiny Force Measurement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingfeng Zhu ◽  
Yancheng Wang ◽  
Xin Wu ◽  
Deqing Mei
Keyword(s):  
Force Measurement ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
Force Detection ◽  
Pressure Sensing ◽  
Porous Graphene ◽  
Graphene Sponge ◽  
Healthcare Monitoring ◽  
Working Principle

Flexible tactile sensors have been utilized for epidermal pressure sensing, motion detecting, and healthcare monitoring in robotic and biomedical applications. This paper develops a novel piezoresistive flexible tactile sensor based on porous graphene sponges. The structural design, working principle, and fabrication method of the tactile sensor are presented. The developed tactile sensor has 3 × 3 sensing units and has a spatial resolution of 3.5 mm. Then, experimental setup and characterization of this tactile sensor are conducted. Results indicated that the developed flexible tactile sensor has good linearity and features two sensitivities of 2.08 V/N and 0.68 V/N. The high sensitivity can be used for tiny force detection. Human body wearing experiments demonstrated that this sensor can be used for distributed force sensing when the hand stretches and clenches. Thus the developed tactile sensor may have great potential in the applications of intelligent robotics and healthcare monitoring.

scholarly journals Ultra-Sensitive Flexible Tactile Sensor Based on Graphene Film

Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaozhou Lü ◽  
Liang Qi ◽  
Hanlun Hu ◽  
Xiaoping Li ◽  
Guanghui Bai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Graphene Film ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Tactile Sensor ◽  
Measurement Range ◽  
Tactile Sensors ◽  
Piezoresistive Effect ◽  
Large Measurement ◽  
Pet Film ◽  
Maximum Measurement

Flexible tactile sensor can be integrated into artificial skin and applied in industrial robot and biomedical engineering. However, the presented tactile sensors still have challenge in increasing sensitivity to expand the sensor’s application. Aiming at this problem, this paper presents an ultra-sensitive flexible tactile sensor. The sensor is based on piezoresistive effect of graphene film and is composed of upper substrate (PDMS bump with a size of 5 mm × 7 mm and a thickness of 1 mm), medial Graphene/PET film (Graphene/PET film with a size of 5 mm × 7 mm, PET with a hardness of 2H) and lower substrate (PI with fabricated electrodes). We presented the structure and reduced the principle of the sensor. We also fabricated several sample devices of the sensor and carried out experiment to test the performance. The results show that the sensor performed an ultra high sensitivity of 10.80/kPa at the range of 0–4 kPa and have a large measurement range up to 600 kPa. The sensor has 4 orders of magnitude between minimum resolution and maximum measurement range which have great advantage compared with state of the art. The sensor is expected to have great application prospect in robot and biomedical.

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