Abstract
This paper describes about the estimation of surface shape of an object as the radius of curvature by using the tactile sensor of the robot hand.
Firstly, we have introduced the relationship between the arrangement of sensing elements and the shape of object's surface by applying Yamazaki-Iijima's theorem.
Secondly, we have constructed a tactile sensor whose sensing elements are arranged as 1-D array and are sensitive to normal force on the surface of sensor.
Finally, we demonstrate experimentally the estimation of curvature of different curved objects and the dynamic tracing on the tapered column by the pneumatic controlled finger with the sensor. The tactile sensor can also used as the contour estimation of an object surface globally.
