This paper reviews the current state of the art and outlook in robotic tactile sensing for real-time control of dextrous manipulation. We begin with an overview of human touch sensing capabilities and draw lessons for robotic manipulation. Next, tactile sensor devices are described, including tactile array sensors, force-torque sensors, and dynamic tactile sensors. The information provided by t...

A piezoresistive strain-gauge sensor, mounted in an array configuration, for the measurement of distributed pressures during robotic grasp applications is investigated. The prototype presented consists of a 16-element test cell connected to an electronic acquisition unit that also provides temperature compensation. The structure of the tactile sensor and its principle of operation are described.

This paper presents a novel approach to remote tactile interaction, wherein a human uses a telerobot to touch a remote environment. The proposed system consists of a BioTac tactile sensor, in charge of registering contact deformations, and a custom cutaneous device, in charge of applying those deformations to the user’s fingertip via a 3-DoF mobile platform. We employ a novel data-driven algori...

This paper discusses the design of a contact sensor for use with the Utah-MIT dexterous hand [Jacobsen, et al. 19841. The sensor utilizes an 8 x 8 array of capacitive cells. This paper extends the work presented in Siegel and Garabieta [1986], and the earlier work of Boie [1984]; a more detailed design analysis, modifications to the construction process, and better performance results, are shown.

This paper presents an analysis result of grasp-move-and-twist motions of robotic hands equipped with optical three-axis tactile sensor to evaluate performance of a new control algorithm based on tactile slippage sensation. The optical three-axis tactile sensor is capable of defining normal and shear forces simultaneously. The proposed algorithm consists of robot arm and hand controls based on ...

We present a novel tactile sensor, which is useful for dextrous grasping with a simple robot gripper. The novel part consists of an array of capacitive sensors, which couple to the object by means of little brushes of fibers. These sensor elements are very sensitive (with a threshold of about 5 mN) but robust enough not to be damaged during grasping. They yield two types of dynamical tactile in...

We report a flexible and wearable pressure sensor based on the giant piezocapacitive effect of a three-dimensional (3-D) microporous dielectric elastomer, which is capable of highly sensitive and stable pressure sensing over a large tactile pressure range. Due to the presence of micropores within the elastomeric dielectric layer, our piezocapacitive pressure sensor is highly deformable by even ...

The advent of sensor arrays providing tactile feedback with high spatial and temporal resolution asks for new control strategies to exploit this important and valuable sensory channel for grasping and manipulation tasks. In this paper, we introduce a control framework to realize a whole set of tactile servoing tasks, i.e. control tasks that intend to realize a specific tactile interaction patte...

Tactile perception is a feature benefiting reliable grasping and manipulation. This paper presents the design of an integrated fingertip force sensor employing an optical fiber based approach where applied forces modulate light intensity. The proposed sensor system is developed to support grasping of a broad range of objects, including those that are hard as well those that are soft. The sensor...

This paper outlines a novel approach of displaying multifingered tactile feedback information from remote and virtual environments. Miniature tactile fingertip modules are developed allowing multi-fingered integration into an already existing hand force exoskeleton for display of combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback. The tactile feedback comprises generation of both, vibrotactile and therm...