HIGH DENSITY TACTILE SENSOR ARRAYS FOR CURVED SURFACES ON FINGER SEGMENTS AND TIPS

HIGH DENSITY TACTILE SENSOR ARRAYS BASED UPON ULTRASONIC PULSE-ECHO RANGING WILL BE DEVELOPED TO COVER CURVED SURFACES OF A DEXTEROUS ROBOTIC HAND. AN ARRAY OF TRANSDUCERS GENERATE ULTRASONIC PULSES WHICH TRAVERSE AN OVERLYING ELASTOMER SHEET AND ARE REFLECTED AT ITS UPPER SURFACE AND RETURN TO THE TRANSDUCERS. A MEASUREMENT OF THE TIME-OF-FLIGHT CORRESPONDS TO THE THICKNESS OF THE SHEET. WHEN THESE SENSORS ARE USED ON A ROBOT END EFFECTOR TO GRASP AN OBJECT, THE INDUCED DEFORMATION OF THE SHEET IS INDICATED BY A CHANGE IN THE TIME-OF-FLIGHT. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PLACING THESE SENSORS ON CURVED SURFACES ON THE FINGER SEGMENTS AND HEMISPHERICAL FINGER TIPS OF A DEXTEROUS ROBOTIC HAND. HIGH DENSITY ARRAYS WITH ELEMENTS 0.5-3 MM SQUARE PROPOERLY DISTRIBUTED ON ALL SURFACES WILL GIVE A MECHANICALHAND NEAR ANTHROPOMORPHIC TOUCH SENSING CAPABILITY.