抄録
Recent developments in the areas of mobile and humanoid robots have resulted in a marked increase in the potential applications of robotics. In addition, since it is likely that robots will cohabitate and interact with humans in a variety of situations, they will need an external skin covering capable of distinguishing between various stimuli. This study sought to develop skin sensors for robots that were capable of recognizing four stimuli that are frequently encountered in everyday life. We developed a prototype skin sensor system using two types of shock sensors and pressure-sensitive rubber. The results demonstrated that four stimuli could be distinguished based on differences in pressure and acceleration between each stimulus. We describe the development of the skin sensory system, the mechanism employed to distinguish between the different stimuli, and present the results of experiments conducted using the developed system.
