We propose a pressure distributed sensor as a tactile sensor for a five-fingered robotic hand like a human hand. The sensor has simple, three-layer structure, which composed of an urethane gel, a pressure sensitive rubber under the gel, and an electrode sheet at the bottom. The arrangement brings high productivity and smooth maintenance. The electrode sheet also provides high ratio of the detection area to the sensor and high sensitivity. First, the characteristics of response time and accuracy are investigated by ground tests. Secondly, a shape recognition method with the sensor is proposed. Finally the effectiveness and validity of the proposed method are demonstrated through laboratory experiments.
