Theoretical Investigations on the Behavior of Artificial Sensors for Surface Texture Detection

Animal vibrissae are used as natural inspiration for artificial tactile sensors, e.g., the mystacial vibrissae enable rodents to perform several tasks in using these tactile hairs: object shape determination and surface texture discrimination. Referring to the literature, the Kinetic Signature Hypothesis states that the surface texture detection is a highly dynamic process. It is assumed that the animals gather information about the surface texture out of a spatial, temporal pattern of kinetic events. This process has to be analyzed in detail to develop an artificial tactile sensor with similar functionalities. Hence, we set up a mechanical model for theoretical investigations of the process. This model is analyzed in two different directions using numerical simulations: at first a quasi-static and then a fully dynamic description.