: Advanced Tactile Sensing for Dexterous Robot Hands in Industrial Automation and Assembly

Robotic actuators exceed human speed, accuracy, and strength, but human hands are regarded as the ultimate in dexterity. SynTouch proposes this is due absent human-like tactile sensing and intelligent reflexive behaviors in robots. SynTouch created a multimodal compliant tactile sensor that mimics the sensory ability of the human fingertip (force, vibration and temperature) and algorithms that fill this absence. In this research, we will perform integration of the BioTac with the Schunk Dexterous Hand (SDH). Working with NIST and industrial partners, SynTouch will develop measures of robotic grasper dexterity and use them to evaluate new tactile sensory technology with the older tactile sensors of the SDH. The biomimetic nature of the BioTac and biologically-inspired reflexive behaviors will lead to a new level of dexterity, enabling advanced applications in industrial automation and assembly.