FIBER OPTIC TACTILE SENSOR FOR ROBOTICS APPLICATIONS

WITH THE RAPID GROWTH IN THE APPLICATION OF ROBOTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MORE SOPHISTICATION IN TACTILE SENSORS IS NEEDED TO AUGMENT THE CAPABILITY OF THE TYPICAL ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR/GRIPPER. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH ENTAILSA NOVEL APPROACH TO TACTILE SENSING BY USING FIBER OPTIC SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IN ADDRESSING THIS NEED. BECAUSE OF ITS INTRINSIC ADVANTAGE OF NOISE IMMUNITY AND INTEGRABILITY, THIS FIBER OPTIC TACTILE SENSOR CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN AN ARRAY CONFIGURATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPATIALDISTRIBUTION OF THE CONTACT FORCE AS WELL AS THE SURFACE TEXTURAL CHARACTERISTICS. THE THRUST OF THIS RESEARCH IS TOINVESTIGATE THIS FIBER OPTIC CONCEPT TO TACTILE SENSING BY DEMONSTRATING A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF AN EXTRINSIC FIBER OPTIC SENSOR AS ONE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION ALTERNATIVE. THISTACTILE SENSOR CONSISTS OF A "SKIN" SENSING SURFACE WITH FIBER OPTICS ATTACHED, PROVIDING TACTILE INFORMATION CONTENTAS RICH AS THAT OF ROBOTIC VISION.