Abstract
Reproducing the capabilities of the human sense of touch in machines is an important step in enabling robot manipulation to have the ease of human dexterity. A combination of robotic technologies will be needed, including soft robotics, biomimetics and the high-resolution sensing offered by optical tactile sensors. This combination is considered here as a SoftBOT (Soft Biomimetic Optical Tactile) sensor. This article reviews the BRL TacTip as a prototypical example of such a sensor. Topics include the relation between artificial skin morphology and the transduction principles of human touch, the nature and benefits of tactile shear sensing, 3D printing for fabrication and integration into robot hands, the application of AI to tactile perception and control, and the recent step-change in capabilities due to deep learning. This review consolidates those advances from the past decade to indicate a path for robots to reach human-like dexterity.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONWe take our sense of touch for granted as we mostly use it in a subconscious way
As humans, we take our sense of touch for granted as we mostly use it in a subconscious way
Intelligent interaction requires a rich source of contact information, as offered by high-resolution optical tactile sensors such as the MIT GelSight [3], [4] and Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) TacTip [5], [6] with deep learning methods such as convolutional neural networks
Summary
We take our sense of touch for granted as we mostly use it in a subconscious way. Intelligent interaction requires a rich source of contact information, as offered by high-resolution optical tactile sensors such as the MIT GelSight [3], [4] and BRL TacTip [5], [6] with deep learning methods such as convolutional neural networks. This combination of technologies is termed SoftBOT sensing, for Soft Biomimetic Optical Tactile Sensing, encompassing SoftBOT sensors, hands and robotic systems. Soft biomimetic optical tactile sensors combine optical imaging with biological principles underlying the sense of touch in animals. This article will review the biomimetic and optical principles of the TacTip as a prototypical example of a SoftBOT sensor
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