Force/Tactile Sensors Based on Optoelectronic Technology for Manipulation and Physical Human–Robot Interaction

Cirillo, Andrea; Cirillo, Pasquale; Maria, G. De; Natale, Ciro; Pirozzi, Salvatore

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-32180-6_6

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This section briefly recalls for completeness the working principle of the tactile sensor and discusses the generalization of the design procedure, partially presented by the authors in [26], which allows obtaining an optimal design of distributed sensors with high conformability.…”

Section: The Distributed Tactile Sensormentioning

confidence: 99%

A Distributed Tactile Sensor for Intuitive Human-Robot Interfacing

Cirillo

Maria

et al. 2017

Journal of Sensors

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Safety of human-robot physical interaction is enabled not only by suitable robot control strategies but also by suitable sensing technologies. For example, if distributed tactile sensors were available on the robot, they could be used not only to detect unintentional collisions, but also as human-machine interface by enabling a new mode of social interaction with the machine. Starting from their previous works, the authors developed a conformable distributed tactile sensor that can be easily conformed to the different parts of the robot body. Its ability to estimate contact force components and to provide a tactile map with an accurate spatial resolution enables the robot to handle both unintentional collisions in safe human-robot collaboration tasks and intentional touches where the sensor is used as human-machine interface. In this paper, the authors present the characterization of the proposed tactile sensor and they show how it can be also exploited to recognize haptic tactile gestures, by tailoring recognition algorithms, well known in the image processing field, to the case of tactile images. In particular, a set of haptic gestures has been defined to test three recognition algorithms on a group of 20 users. The paper demonstrates how the same sensor originally designed to manage unintentional collisions can be successfully used also as human-machine interface.

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Section: The Distributed Tactile Sensormentioning

confidence: 99%

A Distributed Tactile Sensor for Intuitive Human-Robot Interfacing

Cirillo

Maria

et al. 2017

Journal of Sensors

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“…Among most tactile sensors described in the literature [ 3 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], only a few are easily integrated into existing robotic grippers. The companies Touchence, XELA Robotics, and Contactile have developed sensor arrays that can be easily added to robotic grippers, mainly due to their small size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, normally, they tend to be utilized in a probe-like fashion such as for surgical instruments and struggle to be arrayed [ 6 ]. Cirillo et al presented a photo-diode-based tactile sensor with a 25-element array using photodetectors and one deformable surface [ 15 , 33 ]. However, it requires two proportionally large PCBs to facilitate the readout of the sensing elements and only detects normal force changes [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Novel Optical Six-Axis Distributed Force and Displacement Tactile Sensor for Dexterous Robotic Manipulation

Leslie,

Córdova Bulens,

Redmond

2023

Sensors

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Real-time multi-axis distributed tactile sensing is a critical capability if robots are to perform stable gripping and dexterous manipulation, as it provides crucial information about the sensor–object interface. In this paper, we present an optical-based six-axis tactile sensor designed in a fingertip shape for robotic dexterous manipulation. The distributed sensor can precisely estimate the local XYZ force and displacement at ten distinct locations and provide the global XYZ force and torque measurements. Its compact size, comparable to that of a human thumb, and minimal thickness allow seamless integration onto existing robotic fingers, eliminating the need for complex modifications to the gripper. The proposed sensor design uses a simple, low-cost fabrication method. Moreover, the optical transduction approach uses light angle and intensity sensing to infer force and displacement from deformations of the individual sensing units that form the overall sensor, providing distributed six-axis sensing. The local force precision at each sensing unit in the X, Y, and Z axes is 20.89 mN, 19.19 mN, and 43.22 mN, respectively, over a local force range of approximately ±1.5 N in X and Y and 0 to −2 N in Z. The local displacement precision in the X, Y, and Z axes is 56.70 μm, 50.18 μm, and 13.83 μm, respectively, over a local displacement range of ±2 mm in the XY directions and 0 to −1.5 mm in Z (i.e., compression). Additionally, the sensor can measure global torques, Tx, Ty, and Tz, with a precision of of 1.90 N-mm, 1.54 N-mm, and 1.26 N-mm, respectively. The fabricated design is showcased by integrating it with an OnRobot RG2 gripper and illustrating real-time measurements during in simple demonstration task, which generated changing global forces and torques.

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“…Some authors of this paper are working on the development of force/tactile sensors based on optoelectronic technology since ten years about, mainly focusing on novel and challenging applications proposed in the robotics field. The reader could refer to past works [ 13 , 14 ] for the design of previous sensor solutions. Each of them present design features, suitably developed to address specific challenges related to actual use cases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tactile Sensors for Parallel Grippers: Design and Characterization

Cirillo

Costanzo

Laudante

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Tactile data perception is of paramount importance in today’s robotics applications. This paper describes the latest design of the tactile sensor developed in our laboratory. Both the hardware and firmware concepts are reported in detail in order to allow the research community the sensor reproduction, also according to their needs. The sensor is based on optoelectronic technology and the pad shape can be adapted to various robotics applications. A flat surface, as the one proposed in this paper, can be well exploited if the object sizes are smaller than the pad and/or the shape recognition is needed, while a domed pad can be used to manipulate bigger objects. Compared to the previous version, the novel tactile sensor has a larger sensing area and a more robust electronic, mechanical and software design that yields less noise and higher flexibility. The proposed design exploits standard PCB manufacturing processes and advanced but now commercial 3D printing processes for the realization of all components. A GitHub repository has been prepared with all files needed to allow the reproduction of the sensor for the interested reader. The whole sensor has been tested with a maximum load equal to 15N, by showing a sensitivity equal to 0.018V/N. Moreover, a complete and detailed characterization for the single taxel and the whole pad is reported to show the potentialities of the sensor also in terms of response time, repeatability, hysteresis and signal to noise ratio.

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Force/Tactile Sensors Based on Optoelectronic Technology for Manipulation and Physical Human–Robot Interaction

Cited by 9 publications

References 37 publications

A Distributed Tactile Sensor for Intuitive Human-Robot Interfacing

A Distributed Tactile Sensor for Intuitive Human-Robot Interfacing

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Novel Optical Six-Axis Distributed Force and Displacement Tactile Sensor for Dexterous Robotic Manipulation

Tactile Sensors for Parallel Grippers: Design and Characterization

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