Development of a multi-modal tactile force sensing system for deep-sea applications

With the increasing demand for autonomy in robotic systems, there is a rising need for sensory data sensed via different modalities. In this way system states and the aspects of unstructured environments can be assessed in the most detailed fashion possible, thus providing a basis for making decisions regarding the robotâ s task. Com- pared to other sensing modalities, the sense of touch is underrepresented in todayâ s robots. That is where this thesis comes in. A tactile sensing system is developed that combines several modalities of contact sensing. The use of the tactile sense in robotic grippers is of great relevance especially for robotic systems in the deep sea. Up to now manipulation systems in master-slave control mode have been used in this area of application. An operator performing the manipulation task has to rely on visual feedback coming from cameras. Working on the oceanâ s seafloor means having to cope with conditions of limited visibility caused by swirled-up sediment

Color-Coded Fiber-Optic Tactile Sensor for an Elastomeric Robot Skin

The sense of touch is essential for reliable mapping between the environment and a robot which interacts physically with objects. Presumably, an artificial tactile skin would facilitate safe interaction of the robots with the environment. In this work, we present our color-coded tactile sensor, incorporating plastic optical fibers (POF), transparent silicone rubber and an off-the-shelf color camera. Processing electronics are placed away from the sensing surface to make the sensor robust to harsh environments. Contact localization is possible thanks to the lower number of light sources compared to the number of camera POFs. Classical machine learning techniques and a hierarchical classification scheme were used for contact localization. Specifically, we generated the mapping from stimulation to sensation of a robotic perception system using our sensor. We achieved a force sensing range up to 18 N with the force resolution of around 3.6~N and the spatial resolution of 8~mm. The color-coded tactile sensor is suitable for tactile exploration and might enable further innovations in robust tactile sensing.Comment: Presented at ICRA2019, Montrea

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered

An Optical Sensor Design: Concurrent Multi-axis Force Measurement and Tactile Perception.

PhD ThesesForce and tactile sensing have experienced a surge of interest over recent decades, as they convey useful information about the direct physical interaction between the sensor and the external environment. A robot end effector is a device designed to interact with the environment. End effectors such as robotic hands and grippers can be used to pick up, place or generally manipulate objects. There is a clear need to equip such end effectors with appropriate sensing means to be able to measure tactile and force information. Work to date has explored these two modalities separately. Tactile sensors have been developed for integration with gripper fingertips or as skins embedded with the outer side of manipulators, mainly to measure normal force and its distribution across a surface patch. On the other hand, force sensors have commonly been integrated with the joints of robotic arms or fingers to measure external multi-axis forces and torques via the connected links. We observe that a force sensor cannot measure tactile information, and current tactile sensors cannot accurately measure force information. This can become a particular issue when integrating force sensors remotely to measure forces indirectly, especially if the connecting link is flexible or, generally, difficult to model potentially impacting negatively on the force estimates. We aim to provide a solution for an integrated sensor capable of measuring tactile and force information at the point of contact, i.e., on the fingertip of a robot hand or arm. In this thesis, we explore the idea of integrating the two sensing modalities, tactile and force sensing, in one sensor housing with the signal acquisition being performed by a single monocular camera acting as the transducer. The hypothesis is that an integrated force/tactile sensor will perform in a better way than having these sensor modalities separated. This thesis shows that an integrated sensor achieves a tactile sensing performance comparable to existing vision-based tactile sensors and at the same time proves to provide more accurate force sensor information whilst extending the field of similar vision-based sensors from 3 DoF to 6 DoF. In addition, the tactile sensing element of our sensor is not affected by the patterns superimposed on to the flexible element of comparable vision-based sensors used to infer force information. In this thesis, we have implemented several sensor prototypes; designs and experimental analyses for each prototype are being provided. The manufactured sensor prototypes prove the validity of the proposed vision-based dual-modality sensing approach, and the proposed sensing principle and structure shows high versatility and accuracy, as well as the potential for further miniaturization, making the proposed concept suitable for integration with standard robot end effectors

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1991 phase 1 projects

The objectives of 301 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1991 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 301, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1991 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included

Anthropomorphic robot finger with multi-point tactile sensation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-95).The goal of this research is to develop the prototype of a tactile sensing platform for anthropomorphic manipulation research. We investigate this problem through the fabrication and simple control of a planar 2-DOF robotic finger inspired by anatomic consistency, self-containment, and adaptability. The robot is equipped with a tactile sensor array based on optical transducer technology whereby localized changes in light intensity within an illuminated foam substrate correspond to the distribution and magnitude of forces applied to the sensor surface plane [58]. The integration of tactile perception is a key component in realizing robotic systems which organically interact with the world. Such natural behavior is characterized by compliant performance that can initiate internal, and respond to external, force application in a dynamic environment. However, most of the current manipulators that support some form of haptic feedback, either solely derive proprioceptive sensation or only limit tactile sensors to the mechanical fingertips. These constraints are due to the technological challenges involved in high resolution, multi-point tactile perception. In this work, however, we take the opposite approach, emphasizing the role of full-finger tactile feedback in the refinement of manual capabilities. To this end, we propose and implement a control framework for sensorimotor coordination analogous to infant-level grasping and fixturing reflexes. This thesis details the mechanisms used to achieve these sensory, actuation, and control objectives, along with the design philosophies and biological influences behind them. The results of behavioral experiments with the tactilely-modulated control scheme are also described. The hope is to integrate the modular finger into an engineered analog of the human hand with a complete haptic system.by Jessica Lauren Banks.S.M

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1990 phase 1 projects

The research objectives of the 280 projects placed under contract in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1990 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program are described. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses in response to NASA's 1990 SBIR Phase 1 Program Solicitation. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 280, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. The document also includes Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference in the 1990 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA field center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number

Object Recognition and Localization : the Role of Tactile Sensors

Tactile sensors, because of their intrinsic insensitivity to lighting conditions and water turbidity, provide promising opportunities for augmenting the capabilities of vision sensors in applications involving object recognition and localization. This thesis presents two approaches for haptic object recognition and localization for ground and underwater environments. The first approach called Batch Ransac and Iterative Closest Point augmented Sequential Filter (BRICPSF) is based on an innovative combination of a sequential filter, Iterative-Closest-Point algorithm, and a feature-based Random Sampling and Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm for database matching. It can handle a large database of 3D-objects of complex shapes and performs a complete six-degree-of-freedom localization of static objects. The algorithms are validated by experimentation in simulation and using actual hardware. To our knowledge this is the first instance of haptic object recognition and localization in underwater environments. The second approach is biologically inspired, and provides a close integration between exploration and recognition. An edge following exploration strategy is developed that receives feedback from the current state of recognition. A recognition by parts approach is developed which uses BRICPSF for object part recognition. Object exploration is either directed to explore a part until it is successfully recognized, or is directed towards new parts to endorse the current recognition belief. This approach is validated by simulation experiments