An embedded artificial skin for humanoid robots

Abstract

A novel artificial skin for covering the whole body of a humanoid robot is presented. It provides pressure measurements and shape information about the contact surfaces between the robot and the environment. The system is based on a mesh of sensors interconnected in order to form a networked structure. Each sensor has 12 capacitive taxels, has a triangular shape and is supported by a flexible substrate in order to conform to smooth curved surfaces. Three communications ports placed along the sides of each sensor sides allow communications with adjacent sensors. The tactile measurements are sent to embed microcontroller boards using serial bus communication links. The system can adaptively reduce its spatial resolution, improving the response time. This feature is very useful for detecting the first contact very rapidly, at a lower spatial resolution, and then increase the spatial resolution in the region of contact for accurate reconstruction of the contact pressure distribution.