Abstract
A parallel processing LSI for the purpose of realization of intelligent sensors and its application to a tactile sensor are described.
The LSI, which is called “SPE-8”, is located as a special purpose processor for sensors in hierarchical sensing and control systems. The parallel processing of the SPE-8 has special features which is different from normal parallel processing. Each processing element has a direct input from a sensor. As the arithmetic and logical unit of the SPE-8 uses bit serial processing, the circuit of processing elements is so compact that eight processing elements including functions of scanning and transmission are integrated in one chip.
A tactile sensor using the SPE-8 is also described. The sensor has 8×8 detective matrix using pressure-conductive rubber and realizes high speed pattern processing and data transmission. The sensor can be called an integrated parallel processing tactile sensor or a high performance intelligent sensor.
In this paper, the design concept, functional features, and the structure of the SPE-8 are shown. In addition, the structure of the tactile sensor using the SPE-8 and basic sensing and processing results of the sensor are shown.
