Abstract
Tactile sensing is an essential component in human-robot interaction and object manipulation. Soft sensors allow for safe interaction and improved gripping performance. Here we present the TacTip family of sensors: a range of soft optical tactile sensors with various morphologies fabricated through dual-material 3D printing. All of these sensors are inspired by the same biomimetic design principle: transducing deformation of the sensing surface via movement of pins analogous to the function of intermediate ridges within the human fingertip. The performance of the TacTip, TacTip-GR2, TacTip-M2, and TacCylinder sensors is here evaluated and shown to attain submillimeter accuracy on a rolling cylinder task, representing greater than 10-fold super-resolved acuity. A version of the TacTip sensor has also been open-sourced, enabling other laboratories to adopt it as a platform for tactile sensing and manipulation research. These sensors are suitable for real-world applications in tactile perception, exploration, and manipulation, and will enable further research and innovation in the field of soft tactile sensing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 216-227 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Soft Robotics |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 3 Jan 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2018 |
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Keywords
- dexterous manipulation
- soft sensors
- tactile sensors
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Biophysics
- Artificial Intelligence
Cite this
The TacTip Family : Soft Optical Tactile Sensors with 3D-Printed Biomimetic Morphologies. / Ward-Cherrier, Benjamin; Pestell, Nicholas; Cramphorn, Luke; Giannaccini, Maria Elena; Winstone, Benjamin; Rossiter, Jonathan; Lepora, Nathan F.
In: Soft Robotics, Vol. 5, No. 2, 01.04.2018, p. 216-227.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The TacTip Family
T2 - Soft Optical Tactile Sensors with 3D-Printed Biomimetic Morphologies
AU - Ward-Cherrier, Benjamin
AU - Pestell, Nicholas
AU - Cramphorn, Luke
AU - Giannaccini, Maria Elena
AU - Winstone, Benjamin
AU - Rossiter, Jonathan
AU - Lepora, Nathan F.
N1 - The authors thank Sam Coupland, Gareth Griffiths, and Samuel Forbes for their help with 3D printing and Jason Welsby for his assistance with electronics. N.L. was supported, in part, by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award on “A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch” (RL-2016-039), and N.L. and M.E.G. were supported, in part, by an EPSRC grant on Tactile Super-resolution Sensing (EP/M02993X/1). L.C. was supported by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Autonomous and Robotic Systems (FARSCOPE).
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Tactile sensing is an essential component in human-robot interaction and object manipulation. Soft sensors allow for safe interaction and improved gripping performance. Here we present the TacTip family of sensors: a range of soft optical tactile sensors with various morphologies fabricated through dual-material 3D printing. All of these sensors are inspired by the same biomimetic design principle: transducing deformation of the sensing surface via movement of pins analogous to the function of intermediate ridges within the human fingertip. The performance of the TacTip, TacTip-GR2, TacTip-M2, and TacCylinder sensors is here evaluated and shown to attain submillimeter accuracy on a rolling cylinder task, representing greater than 10-fold super-resolved acuity. A version of the TacTip sensor has also been open-sourced, enabling other laboratories to adopt it as a platform for tactile sensing and manipulation research. These sensors are suitable for real-world applications in tactile perception, exploration, and manipulation, and will enable further research and innovation in the field of soft tactile sensing.
AB - Tactile sensing is an essential component in human-robot interaction and object manipulation. Soft sensors allow for safe interaction and improved gripping performance. Here we present the TacTip family of sensors: a range of soft optical tactile sensors with various morphologies fabricated through dual-material 3D printing. All of these sensors are inspired by the same biomimetic design principle: transducing deformation of the sensing surface via movement of pins analogous to the function of intermediate ridges within the human fingertip. The performance of the TacTip, TacTip-GR2, TacTip-M2, and TacCylinder sensors is here evaluated and shown to attain submillimeter accuracy on a rolling cylinder task, representing greater than 10-fold super-resolved acuity. A version of the TacTip sensor has also been open-sourced, enabling other laboratories to adopt it as a platform for tactile sensing and manipulation research. These sensors are suitable for real-world applications in tactile perception, exploration, and manipulation, and will enable further research and innovation in the field of soft tactile sensing.
KW - dexterous manipulation
KW - soft sensors
KW - tactile sensors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045465635&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/soro.2017.0052
DO - 10.1089/soro.2017.0052
M3 - Article
C2 - 29297773
AN - SCOPUS:85045465635
VL - 5
SP - 216
EP - 227
JO - Soft Robotics
JF - Soft Robotics
SN - 2169-5172
IS - 2
ER -