Multi-sensor Tactile Perception For Object Manipulation/identification

The varied range of components that must be detected makes tactile Sensors the most sophisticated set of sensing organs in the human body. Unfortunately this complexity also means that there is no effective robotic equivalent to the nerves in skin. This paper reports on the development of a multi-functional tactile sensor capable of collecting data on an broad range of tactile parameters such as contact pressurefforce, texture, hardness, shear, surface profile and slip. This extensive range provides an excellent vehicle for sensor fusion development both at the primary detection level and at the higher perceptual level where data from the sensory sets are fused by an expert identification system. This information has been combined to form an expert identifier for object classification (metal, glass, stone, wood, plastic, paper, and fabric) using only touch.