The study of sensitivity on piezoelectric vibratory tactile sensor using a longitudinal bar resonator

Piezoelectric vibratory tactile sensors are used for measuring the softness and hardness of an object. In this research, the sensitivity of the longitudinal bar type tactile sensor was considered to establish the design guideline of the vibratory tactile sensor. First, the sensitivity on the frequency change of the longitudinal bar resonator in contact with an object was approximately derived for designing the vibratory tactile sensor. It was experimentally clarified that the sensitivity was inversely proportional to the equivalent mass of the bar resonator. Next, the shape of a longitudinal bar resonator was calculated using the finite element method for improving the sensitivity on the vibratory tactile sensor. It was shown that the sensitivity was increased using the horn type tactile sensor. The obtained results will be useful for designing the piezoelectric vibratory tactile sensor.