A Coil-Based Tactile Sensor for Material Discrimination⁽¹⁾ and Contact Force Measurement: An Application of Multifunctional Sensing Technique

Abstract

The aim of this study is to propose a multifunctional tactile sensor with a simple structure imitating the human hand. This paper is an improvement of the previous one⁽¹⁾ and here we add the sensing function of testing the horizontal force to the previous sensor. The central components of this sensor are four coils and two dielectric mediums. A step-by-step method is used to realize the multifunctional sensing and in each step, a different quantity is sensed. Making a general survey of the entire sensor, it can not only discriminate the material but also measure the magnitude, direction of the contact force and the contact location. We herein discuss the design guideline for and the structure of the sensor, with deep inquiries into the step-by-step measuring method and experimental results.