A Capacitive Lased Tactile Sensor

Abstract

A tactile sensor for use with robotic manipulators is de-scribed. The sensor has a spatial resolution of 8 x 8 points in a 1.27 x 1.27 cm square space, giving it a theoretical. two point disparity of 1.9 mm. Force is measured by determining the variation in distance between two parallel plates of a capacitor. An injected molded silicone rubber material, placed between the upper and lower plates of the force sensing capacitors, is used as both the elastic and di-electric medium. A series of experiments were conducted to quantify the performance of the device; hysteresis was found to be low and spatial resolution approached its theoretical limit. Finally, the tactile force images of several small objects are shown.