TacWhiskers: Biomimetic Optical Tactile Whiskered Robots

Here we propose and investigate a novel vibrissal tactile sensor - the Tac Whisker array - based on modifying a 3D-printed optical cutaneous (fingertip) tactile sensor - the TacTip. Two versions are considered: a static Tac Whisker array analogous to immotile tactile vibrissae (e.g. rodent microvib-rissae) and a dynamic Tac Whisker array analogous to motile tactile vibrissae (e.g. rodent macrovibrissae). Performance is assessed on an active object localization task. The whisking motion of the dynamic Tac Whisker leads to millimetre-scale location perception, whereas perception with the static Tac Whisker array is relatively poor when making dabbing contacts. The dynamic sensor output is dominated by a self-generated motion signal, which can be compensated by comparing to a reference signal. Overall, the Tac Whisker arrays give a new class of tactile whiskered robots that benefit from being relatively inexpensive and customizable. Furthermore, the biomimetic basis for the Tac Whiskers fits well with building an embodied model of the rodent sensory system for investigating animal perception.