Improvement of Contact Part and Load Distribution Measurement with Miniaturized Microcantilevers of Proximity and Tactile Sensor for Gripping Control of Soft Objects

In this study, we measured output characteristics o f a MEMS sensor, which is sensitive to proximity di stance, contact force, and slipping, for controlling manipu lation of soft objects. This sensor can detect the proximity due to the internal photoelectric effect in the Si substrate a nd the contact information including normal and she ar loads using deflection of the cantilever, which is fabricated o n the substrate surface and embedded in the silicon e elastomer. It is demonstrated that soft objects can be gripped witho ut large deformation by the manipulator controlled using output from the sensor with hemisphere-shaped PDMS and gri pping force can be adjusted automatically when the obj ct is lifted up. Furthermore, we have designed and fabricated a new sensor with miniaturized micro cantilever arranged densely to detect load distribution with higher spa tial resolution.