Abstract
Abstract An optical three-axis tactile sensor is comprised of a silicone-rubber sheet, an acrylic plate, a CCD camera and a light source. A silicone-rubber sheet has an array of 8×9 sensor cells consisting of a columnar feeler and 2-by-2 conical feelers. Since the 2-by-2 conical feelers are detached from the acrylic board under too large horizontal force, the three-axis tactile sensor can detect friction coefficient of the object surface with limited range of horizontal force only. In the present paper, the authors proposed a new design of a sensing element consisting of a columnar and a conical feeler to trace horizontal movement of the conical feeler. To evaluate the new design, we conducted a series of experiments using an x-z stage and a two-axis force sensor. It was found that the relationship between feeler movement and horizontal force depended on applied vertical force and that relationship between vertical force and contact area did not depend on horizontal force. Therefore, since modification is possible according to value of vertical force and conical feeler does not detach from the acrylic board under considerable large horizontal force, the new sensing element can detect horizontal force within wide rang of horizontal force.
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