Tactile Sensing Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper has three main themes: design of a cylindrical tactile sensor, mechanical analysis using planar linear elas ticity models, and signal analysis for determining basic infor mation about the applied contact. An analysis of appropriate sensor depth has been used to allow accurate localization of contacts and reduced spatial aliasing. A comparison has been made between the cylindrical sensor and a simple two- dimensional stress-strain model. The effects of skin thickness and sensor depth on sensitivity are analyzed. Preliminary methods for determining contact location, total force, and tangential force with only normal deflection sensors have been implemented for a line contact.