Abstract
Tactile sensors are essential if robots are to safely interact with the external world and to dexterously manipulate objects. Current tactile sensors have limitations restricting their use, notably being too fragile or having limited performance. Magnetic field-based soft tactile sensors offer a potential improvement, being durable, low cost, accurate and high bandwidth, but they are relatively undeveloped because of the complexities involved in design and calibration. This paper presents a general design methodology for magnetic field-based three-axis soft tactile sensors, enabling researchers to easily develop specific tactile sensors for a variety of applications. All aspects (design, fabrication, calibration and evaluation) of the development of tri-axis soft tactile sensors are presented and discussed. A moving least square approach is used to decouple and convert the magnetic field signal to force output to eliminate non-linearity and cross-talk effects. A case study of a tactile sensor prototype, MagOne, was developed. This achieved a resolution of 1.42 mN in normal force measurement (0.71 mN in shear force), good output repeatability and has a maximum hysteresis error of 3.4%. These results outperform comparable sensors reported previously, highlighting the efficacy of our methodology for sensor design.
Highlights
The integration of tactile sensors into robotic systems is essential if such robots are to interact safely with the external environment and to dexterously manipulate objects [1,2,3]
We present a general design methodology for magnetic field-based three-axis soft tactile sensors, enabling researchers to more and rigorously develop and integrate their own tactile sensors into a variety of applications
From the analyses presented a series of design guidelines for a magnetic field-based tactile sensor can be summarised: (1)
Summary
The integration of tactile sensors into robotic systems is essential if such robots are to interact safely with the external environment and to dexterously manipulate objects [1,2,3]. Current tactile sensors have limitations restricting their application, notably being too fragile for repeated contact/impact and wear or exhibiting poor performance. They are typically expensive and difficult to integrate into the application systems. There is a demand for low-cost, durable, accurate, deformable, customizable, tri-axial tactile sensing technology and the associated techniques required to design, optimize and fabricate these systems. Over the past few decades, research into deformable/soft tactile sensing systems has rapidly accelerated, spanning a broad range of target applications [5].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
