A nephelometric tactile sensor

  • R. Andrew Russell
Robotics and Machine Recognition (Special Session)
First Online:
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 1342)

Abstract

This paper describes the design and construction of a novel robot tactile sensor array. The sensory principle employed is the measurement of diffuse reflected light emanating from a turbid liquid when the liquid is illuminated by a collimated light source. External objects pressed against the sensor vary the thickness of a layer of turbid liquid. Light entering this liquid is back-scattered in proportion to the liquid thickness. If the light passes through more liquid then more light is backscattered. Operation of the sensor does not rely on light being reflected by the outer flexible membrane which contains the liquid. This is seen as an advantage of this sensor design. Being optical the transduction mechanism is immune to electric and magnetic interference. Compliance of the sensor surface would accommodate a degree of inaccuracy in positioning, aid stable grasping and resist damage in robotic applications. Results obtained using a prototype version of the sensor are also presented.

Keywords

Light Emit Diode Sensor Response Tactile Sensor Sensor Output Sensor Design 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1997

Authors and Affiliations

  • R. Andrew Russell
    • 1
  1. 1.Intelligent Robotics Research Centre Department of Electrical and Computer Systems EngineeringMonash UniversityClaytonAustralia

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