Advanced Tactile Sensing For Robotics

Advanced robot systems require sensory information to enable them to make decisions and to carry out actions in a versatile, autonomous way. Humans make considerable use of information derived through touch, and an emerging domain of robot sensing is tactile sensing. This book considers various aspects of tactile sensing, from sensor hardware design through to the use of tactile data in exploratory situations using a multi-fingered robot hand. Both introductory material and new research results are presented, providing detailed coverage of the subject. Applications from assembly automation to dextrous manipulation are examined, and a particular theme is the relevance of biological touch to robotic tactile sensing. The integration of these topics into a single volume make the book essential reading for all those interested in robotic sensing. Contents: Introduction to Tactile SensingTactile Sensor DesignsProcessing and Using Tactile Sensor Data "(H R Nicholls)"Planar Elasticity for Tactile Sensing "(R S Fearing)"Integrating Tactile Sensors — ESPRIT 278 "(Z G Rzepczynski)"Distributed Touch Sensing "(H R Nicholls & N W Hardy)"The Human Tactile System "(L Moss-Salentijn)"Lessons from the Study of Biological Touch for Robotic Tactile Sensing "(S J Lederman & D T Pawluck)"Lessons from the Study of Biological Touch for Robotic Haptic Sensing "(S J Lederman et al.)"Object Recognition Using Active Tactile Sensing "(P K Allen)"Experiments in Active Haptic Perception with the Utah-MIT Dextrous Hand "(P K Allen et al.)"Future Trends in Tactile Sensing "(H R Nicholls)"Appendix — Basic Linear Elasticity "(R S Fearing)" Readership: Computer scientists and engineers.

Advanced robot systems require sensory information to enable them to make decisions and to carry out actions in a versatile, autonomous way. Humans make considerable use of information derived through touch, and an emerging domain of robot sensing is tactile sensing. This book considers various aspects of tactile sensing, from hardware design through to the use of tactile data in exploratory situations using a multi-fingered robot hand. In the first part of the book, the current state of progress of tactile sensing is surveyed, and it is found that the field is still in an early stage of development. Next, some fundamental issues in planar elasticity, concerning the interaction between tactile sensors and the environment, are presented. Having established how the basic data can be derived from the sensors, the issues of what form tactile sensors should take, and how they should be used, are considered. This is particularly important given the infancy of this field. The human tactile system is examined, and then biological touch and its implications for robotics is looked at. Some experiments in dextrous manipulation using a robot hand are described, which apply some of these results. The integration of tactile sensors into a complete system is also considered, and another, novel, approach for using touch sensing in a flexible assembly machine is described. Both basic material and new research results are provided in this book, thus catering to different levels of readers. The chapters by world experts in different aspects of the field are integrated well into one volume. The editor and authors have produced a thorough and in-depth survey of all work in robot tactile sensing, making the book essential reading for all researchers in this emergent field. Contents:Introduction to Tactile SensingTactile Sensor DesignsProcessing and Using Tactile Sensor Data (H R Nicholls)Planar Elasticity for Tactile Sensing (R S Fearing)Integrating Tactile Sensors — ESPRIT 278 (Z G Rzepczynski)Distributed Touch Sensing (H R Nicholls & N W Hardy)The Human Tactile System (L Moss-Salentijn)Lessons from the Study of Biological Touch for Robotic Tactile Sensing (S J Lederman & D T Pawluck)Lessons from the Study of Biological Touch for Robotic Haptic Sensing (S J Lederman et al.)Object Recognition Using Active Tactile Sensing (P K Allen)Experiments in Active Haptic Perception with the Utah-MIT Dextrous Hand (P K Allen et al.)Future Trends in Tactile Sensing (H R Nicholls)Appendix — Basic Linear Elasticity (R S Fearing) Readership: Computer scientists and engineers. keywords:Tactile Sensing;Tactile Sensor;Force Sensing;Force Sensor;Image Processing;Intelligent Robotics;Haptics;Robot Gripper;Robot Grasping;Touch Sensing;Touch Sensor “The book is well presented, with copious references to the literature, and will certainly be accepted as a standard work of reference in this area.” Robotica

Future robots are expected to work closely and interact safely with real-world objects and humans alike. Sense of touch is important in this context, as it helps estimate properties such as shape, texture, hardness, material type and many more; provides action related information, such as slip detection; and helps carrying out actions such as rolling an object between fingers without dropping it. This book presents an in-depth description of the solutions available for gathering tactile data, obtaining aforementioned tactile information from the data and effectively using the same in various robotic tasks. The efforts during last four decades or so have yielded a wide spectrum of tactile sensing technologies and engineered solutions for both intrinsic and extrinsic touch sensors. Nowadays, new materials and structures are being explored for obtaining robotic skin with physical features like bendable, conformable, and stretchable. Such features are important for covering various body parts of robots or 3D surfaces. Nonetheless, there exist many more hardware, software and application related issues that must be considered to make tactile sensing an effective component of future robotic platforms. This book presents an in-depth analysis of various system related issues and presents the trade-offs one may face while developing an effective tactile sensing system. For this purpose, human touch sensing has also been explored. The design hints coming out of the investigations into human sense of touch can be useful in improving the effectiveness of tactile sensory modality in robotics and other machines. Better integration of tactile sensors on a robot’s body is prerequisite for the effective utilization of tactile data. The concept of semiconductor devices based sensors is an interesting one, as it allows compact and fast tactile sensing systems with capabilities such as human-like spatio-temporal resolution. This book presents a comprehensive description of semiconductor devices based tactile sensing. In particular, novel Piezo Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (POSFET) based approach for high resolution tactile sensing has been discussed in detail. Finally, the extension of semiconductors devices based sensors concept to large and flexile areas has been discussed for obtaining robotic or electronic skin. With its multidisciplinary scope, this book is suitable for graduate students and researchers coming from diverse areas such robotics (bio-robots, humanoids, rehabilitation etc.), applied materials, humans touch sensing, electronics, microsystems, and instrumentation. To better explain the concepts the text is supported by large number of figures.

This work introduces tactile sensing for those engaged in advanced, sensor-based robotics, with special reference to problems of addressing arrays of sensor elements. It describes tactile sensors to register contact, surface profile, thermal properties and other tactile sensing modes. The use of robot manipulators to provide mobility for tactile sensors, and techniques for applying tactile sensing in robotic manipulation and recognition tasks are also covered. The various applications of this technology are discussed, and robot hands and grips are detailed.

Tactile Sensing, Skill Learning and Robotic Dexterous Manipulation focuses on cross-disciplinary lines of research and groundbreaking research ideas in three research lines: tactile sensing, skill learning and dexterous control. The book introduces recent work about human dexterous skill representation and learning, along with discussions of tactile sensing and its applications on unknown objects’ property recognition and reconstruction. Sections also introduce the adaptive control schema and its learning by imitation and exploration. Other chapters describe the fundamental part of relevant research, paying attention to the connection among different fields and showing the state-of-the-art in related branches. The book summarizes the different approaches and discusses the pros and cons of each. Chapters not only describe the research but also include basic knowledge that can help readers understand the proposed work, making it an excellent resource for researchers and professionals who work in the robotics industry, haptics and in machine learning. Provides a review of tactile perception and the latest advances in the use of robotic dexterous manipulation Presents the most detailed work on synthesizing intelligent tactile perception, skill learning and adaptive control Introduces recent work on human’s dexterous skill representation and learning and the adaptive control schema and its learning by imitation and exploration Reveals and illustrates how robots can improve dexterity by modern tactile sensing, interactive perception, learning and adaptive control approaches

The book covers different aspects: - Innovative technologies for tactile sensors development - Tactile data interpretation for control purposes - Alternative sensing technologies - Multi-sensor systems for grasping and manipulation - Sensing solutions for impaired people

This volume contains papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Sensors and Sensory Systems for Advanced Robots", which was held in Maratea, Italy, during the week Apri I 28 - May 3, 1986. Participants in the ARW, who came from eleven NATO and two non-NATO countries, represented an i nternat i ona I assortment of d i st i ngu i shed research centers in industry, government and academia. Purpose of the Workshop was to rev i ew the state of the art of sensing for advanced robots, to discuss basic concepts and new ideas on the use of sensors for robot control and to provide recommendations for future research in this area, There IS an almost unanimous consensus among invest i gators in the fie I d of robot i cs that the add i t i on of sensory capabi I ities represents the "natural" evolution of present industrial robots, as wei I as the necessary premise to the development of advanced robots for nonindustrial app I i cat ions. However, a number of conceptua I and techn i ca I problems sti I I challenge the practical implementation and widespread appl ication of sensor-based robot control techn i ques. Cruc i a I among those prob I ems is the ava i lab iii ty of adequate sensors.

Limp materials are used in many economically impo~tant industries such as garment manufacture, shoe manufacture, aerospace (composites) and automobiles (seats and trim). The use of sensors is essential for reliable robotic handling of these materials, which are often based on naturally occurring substances such as cotton and leather. The materials are limp and have non-homogeneous mechanical properties which are often impossible to predict accurately. The applications are very demanding for vision and tactile sensing and signal processing, adaptive control systems, planning and systems integration. This book comprises the collection of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on 'Sensory Robotics for the Handling of Limp Materials', held in October 1988 at II Ciocco, Tuscany, Italy. The aim of the workshop was to examine the state of the art and determine what research is needed to provide the theoretical and technological tools for the successful application of sensory robotics to the handling of limp materials. The meeting also acted as the first-ever forum for the interchange of knowledge between applications-driven researchers and those researching into the provision of fundamental tools. The participants were drawn from academia (20), industry (5), and other non-university research organisations (5).