A Whole Body Artificial Skin Based on Cell-Bridge Networking System

Abstract

Abstract—We proposed a novel communication system named “cell-bridge system ” for sensor networks in the previous INSS workshop. The system consists of two dimensional areas called “cells ” and signal transmission devices called “bridges”. In this paper, we propose a tactile sensor skin as one of applications of the system. In this application, the cells are not only communication media but also parts of capacitive tactile sensor elements, and the bridges not only transmit signals but also measure the capacitances of the sensor elements. The structure of the sensor element is very simple; two layers of compressible insulators which are sandwiched between three pieces of stretchable conductive sheets. The sensor element acquires a contact area in addition to a contact force within its sensing area. The resulting robot skin is soft, stretchable, and able to cover a large area such as a whole surface of a humanoid robot. Keywords-cell bridge; robot skin; sensor network; tactile sensor I.