A Soft Tactile Sensor Based on Magnetics and Hybrid Flexible-Rigid Electronics

Tactile sensing is crucial for robots to manipulate objects successfully. However, integrating tactile sensors into robotic hands is still challenging, mainly due to the need to cover small multi-curved surfaces with several components that must be miniaturized. In this paper, we report the design of a novel magnetic-based tactile sensor to be integrated into the robotic hand of the humanoid robot Vizzy. We designed and fabricated a flexible 4 × 2 matrix of Si chips of magnetoresistive spin valve sensors that, coupled with a single small magnet, can measure contact forces from 0.1 to 5 N on multiple locations over the surface of a robotic fingertip; this design is innovative with respect to previous works in the literature, and it is made possible by careful engineering and miniaturization of the custom-made electronic components that we employ. In addition, we characterize the behavior of the sensor through a COMSOL simulation, which can be used to generate optimized designs for sensors with different geometries.

[1]  R.S. Dahiya,et al.  System approach: A paradigm for robotic tactile sensing , 2008, 2008 10th IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control.

[2]  Daniil Karnaushenko,et al.  Stretchable magnetoelectronics. , 2011, Nano letters.

[3]  Jürgen Kosel,et al.  A Magnetoresistive Tactile Sensor for Harsh Environment Applications , 2016, Sensors.

[4]  Ana Silva,et al.  Linearization strategies for high sensitivity magnetoresistive sensors , 2015 .

[5]  Kaspar Althoefer,et al.  Tactile sensing for dexterous in-hand manipulation in robotics-A review , 2011 .

[6]  J. Gaspar,et al.  Bending effect on magnetoresistive silicon probes , 2015, 2015 IEEE Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG).

[7]  Luís Paulo Reis,et al.  Robot 2015: Second Iberian Robotics Conference , 2016, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing.

[8]  Z. Jane Wang,et al.  Novel Tactile Sensor Technology and Smart Tactile Sensing Systems: A Review , 2017, Sensors.

[9]  Hongbin Liu,et al.  Miniature 3-Axis Distal Force Sensor for Minimally Invasive Surgical Palpation , 2012, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[10]  Oliver Kroemer,et al.  A Review of Tactile Information: Perception and Action Through Touch , 2020, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[11]  Jonathan Rossiter,et al.  The TacTip Family: Soft Optical Tactile Sensors with 3D-Printed Biomimetic Morphologies , 2018, Soft robotics.

[12]  S. Cardoso,et al.  Optimization of the Gap Size of Flux Concentrators: Pushing Further on Low Noise Levels and High Sensitivities in Spin-Valve Sensors , 2019, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

[13]  Shigeki Sugano,et al.  Design and Characterization of a Three-Axis Hall Effect-Based Soft Skin Sensor , 2016, Sensors.

[14]  A. Loi,et al.  Piezoelectric polymer transducer arrays for flexible tactile sensors , 2012, 2012 IEEE Sensors.

[15]  Gang Liu,et al.  A skin-inspired tactile sensor for smart prosthetics , 2018, Science Robotics.

[16]  Selma Supek,et al.  Magnetoencephalography: From Signals to Dynamic Cortical Networks , 2014 .

[17]  Shigeki Sugano,et al.  Covering a Robot Fingertip With uSkin: A Soft Electronic Skin With Distributed 3-Axis Force Sensitive Elements for Robot Hands , 2018, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[18]  A. Kling,et al.  Ion beam deposition of Mn-Ir spin valves , 1999 .

[19]  Alexandre Bernardino,et al.  Low-cost 3-axis soft tactile sensors for the human-friendly robot Vizzy , 2017, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[20]  A. Lechner,et al.  Magnetostrictive GMR sensor on flexible polyimide substrates , 2006 .

[21]  Véronique Perdereau,et al.  Tactile sensing in dexterous robot hands - Review , 2015, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[22]  Youngdo Jung,et al.  Remote tactile sensing system integrated with magnetic synapse , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[23]  James J. Clark.  A magnetic field based compliance matching sensor for high resolution, high compliance tactile sensing , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[24]  Shipeng Xie,et al.  High Sensitivity and Wide Range Soft Magnetic Tactile Sensor Based on Electromagnetic Induction , 2021, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[25]  Jukka Nenonen,et al.  Novel Noise Reduction Methods , 2019, Magnetoencephalography.

[26]  Yibin Fu,et al.  Nonlinear elasticity : theory and applications , 2001 .

[27]  Giorgio Metta,et al.  Methods and Technologies for the Implementation of Large-Scale Robot Tactile Sensors , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[28]  Luis Paulo Reis.  Robot 2015: Second Iberian Robotics Conference : Advances in Robotics, Volume 2 , 2016 .

[29]  M. T. Mason,et al.  Toward Robotic Manipulation , 2018, Annu. Rev. Control. Robotics Auton. Syst..

[30]  Gordon Cheng,et al.  Directions Toward Effective Utilization of Tactile Skin: A Review , 2013, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[31]  Alexandre Bernardino,et al.  Bioinspired Ciliary Force Sensor for Robotic Platforms , 2017, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[32]  T. Jayakumar,et al.  Flexible GMR Sensor Array for Magnetic Flux Leakage Testing of Steel Track Ropes , 2012, J. Sensors.

[33]  Giulio Sandini,et al.  Highly Sensitive Soft Tactile Sensors for an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand , 2015, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[34]  Edward H. Adelson,et al.  GelSight: High-Resolution Robot Tactile Sensors for Estimating Geometry and Force , 2017, Sensors.

[35]  Óscar Oballe-Peinado,et al.  Three Realizations and Comparison of Hardware for Piezoresistive Tactile Sensors , 2011, Sensors.

[36]  Jong-Hyun Ahn,et al.  Recent Advances in Tactile Sensing Technology , 2018, Micromachines.

[37]  Susana Cardoso,et al.  Flexible Magnetoresistive Sensors Designed for Conformal Integration , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.