A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF CAPACITANCE TECHNOLOGY FOR TACTILE SENSING REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING REAL TIME SENSING OF SLIPPAGE

THE NEED FOR TACTILE SENSORS FOR GRIPPING MEMBERS EMPLOYED IN INTELLIGENT MACHINES HAS BEEN SHOWN IN THE ROBOTICS FIELD. THE SENSING NEEDS INCLUDE SHAPES, FEATURES, FORCE, TEXTURE, PROXIMITY, AND SLIPPAGE. PHASE I WILL ADDRESS CAPACITANCE TECHNIQUES FOR MEASURING TEXTURE AND SLIPPAGE. PHASE II WOULD INCLUDE SENSING OF SHAPES, FEATURES, AND PROXIMITY IN THE SAME CAPACITANCE SENSOR ARRAY AS IS CONTEMPLATED IN PHASE I. PHASE I SHOULD PRODUCE A MULTI-SENSOR ARRAY AND ASSOCIATED ELEXTRONICS TO MEASURE SURFACE TEXTURE ON THE WORKPIECE WHERE GRIPPING TAKES PLACE. THE ARRAY WILL BE SENSITIVE TO THE FACT THAT NO SLIPPAGE IS TAKING PLACE BY MEANS OF CONSTANT SIGNALS FROM EACH OF THE SENSORS. THE APPROACH IS A COMBINATION OF THESE ULTRA- SENSITIVE SENSORS AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT ANY TWO SAMPLES OF SURFACE TEXTURE ON A SURFACE WILL BE AT LEAST 10% APART. THUS, THE ONSET OF MOVEMENT WILL BE OBSERVED BY DETECTABLE VARIATIONS IN SENSOR OUTPUT. A SPECIAL PURPOSE TEST FIXTURE WILL BE USED TO MEASURE RESPONSE TIME. ALGORITHMS WILL BE DESIGNED TO INTERROGATE THE SENSOR ARRAY AND POST PROCESS THE SIGNAL INFORMATION.