Deformable/Stretchable Tactile Sensors

Over the period past 30 years, many different approaches towards tactile sensing in robots have been proposed. Innovative sensing concepts as well as novel fabrication methods have been introduced so that tactile sensors can become more practical for real world applications.

In short, an ideal tactile sensor for robots should (1)have relatively high resolution and sensitivity, (2)be capable of multi-modal sensing rather than only pressure and (3)be deformable and stretchable. The three characteristics stated above, pose a traditional trade-off in tactile sensors which has led to development of sensors which are stronger in one category but weak in others. While development of high-resolution and multi-modal tactile sensors has been a relative success, fulfilling the required specifications regarding deformability and stretchability has been an ongoing challenge.
Deformable tactile sensors can be easily implemented over highly complex 3D shapes, as well as dynamically deforming and stretching areas such as the area around joints. Implementing tactile over deformable robot parts can also increase action dexterity and reduce control complexity.

In this presentation, I will first talk about multiple approaches taken towards increasing deformability and stretchability of tactile sensors. Specifically, I will discuss the tomography-based approach to tactile sensing which needs no individual sensing element and wiring in the sensing area and can be made very thin, which results in greatly improved deformability and stretchability. I will also discuss some of the ideas regarding increasing resolution, as well as methods to for multi-modal sensing in a tomography-based design. Furthermore I will point out some of the specific issues regarding tactile sensing over a deformable and stretchable surface. Also, I will discuss the combination of movement and tactile sensing in a highly deformable sensory-motor robotic organism.