抄録
Since an optical three-axis tactile sensor has good advantages on fracture robustness and surface fitness for applications on robotics, we developed a semispherical three-axis tactile sensor mounted on multi-fingered hand's fingertips. In the present paper, the sensing element that has a columnar feeler and 8 conical feelers is adopted as a sensing element for the present tactile sensor. According to a set of equations formulated in the preceding paper, normal and shearing forces are calculated from integrated gray scale value and centroid displacement caused by conical feeler's contacts, respectively. To evaluate the present tactile sensor, we conducted a series of experiments using an x-z stage, a rotational stage and a force gauge. Although relationship between integrated gray-scale value and normal force had good linearity, its sensitivity depended on latitude of shearing force. However, since the sensitivity of shearing force was uniquely determined by the centroid movement, the relationship between integrated gray-scale value and normal force was easily modified according to the value of shearing force.
