Integrated Robotic Tactile Skin Sensitivity Developed

Array of tactile skin sensors (Andreas Heddergott / TU München)

Researchers at Technical University Munich (Technische Universität München, TUM) have built small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, provide a tactile-sensitive skin for autonomous robots. A paper describing these developments appears in the June issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics (paid subscription required).

The TUM scientists have developed an artificial skin for robots to provide tactile information to the overall machine that supplements other perceptions formed by camera eyes, infrared scanners, and gripping hands. The sense of touch could, for example, trigger a response from the robot, such as stopping or retreating when hitting an object, or activation of vision systems to find the source of contact.

Skin sensitivity for robots is provided by a five-square centimeter plate in the shape of a hexagon with a circuit board. Each small circuit board contains four infrared sensors that detect anything closer than one centimeter. Philip Mittendorfer of TUM’s Institute of Cognitive Systems says it gives the robot a sense of light touch.

The plates also have six temperature sensors and an accelerometer that allow the machine to accurately register the movement of individual limbs, and thus to learn what body parts the robot has just moved. “We try to pack many different sensory modalities into the smallest of spaces,” says Mittendorfer.

The boards are placed together in a honeycomb structure worn by the robot. For the machine to have detection ability, the signals from the sensors must be processed by a central computer. This configuration enables each sensory module to pass on its own information, and also serve as a data hub for other sensory elements. These capabilities provide alternative pathways for signals if a connection should fail.

Mittendorfer and colleagues have so far built 15 of these sensor plates and installed them on a robotic arm as a proof-of-concept test. The researchers say just a light pat or breath of air generates a reaction from the arm.

Read more: University Spinoff Company Commercializes Robotic Modules

*     *     *