Thermal-type Tactile Sensor for Material Discrimination and Contact Pressure Sensing

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a thermal-type tactile sensor modeled on the human skin to discriminate different materials on the basis of their thermal properties and to sense contact pressure on the basis of strain of the sensor. The transient thermal response of the sensor was simulated using a one-dimensional contact model of the sensor and the material. The simulation results indicated that material discrimination and contact pressure sensing were possible using two temperature changes of the sensor.