SBIR Phase I: A High-Resolution Digital Fingertip

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to bring to the market a high-resolution digital fingertip: an easy-to-use, compact, and compliant sensor that will provide human-like tactile sensing. Such a sensor can be used to automate assembly tasks in next-generation factories, enable smart objects to understand their tactile environment, and equip scientists with a finger-like sensor for studying human touch. Industries have been transformed by the digitization of our auditory and visual worlds. A high-resolution digital fingertip will provide the mechanism for digitizing the tactile world leading to applications and technological developments that will touch many industries. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a compact, compliant, and high-resolution tactile sensor based on GelSight elastomeric imaging technology. This project proposes a modular optical and illumination architecture for GelSight imaging that will create the appropriate conditions for 3D measurement in a compact package. The modular system can be tiled to cover a large field of view without increasing the device thickness. This effort will lead to new insight into illumination design for shading-based 3D measurement as well as optimizations to allow for real-time tactile information. The system will be coupled with a software development kit (SDK) that provides real-time tactile information, including contact locations, contact force and contact shape. The SDK will make the system accessible to researchers and engineers from other disciplines, which is essential for the successful commercialization of the technology. The high-resolution digital fingertip, together with the SDK, will provide a foundation for further exploration into digital touch as well as applications that benefit from tactile information.