On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor
Tactile sensation across the whole hand, including the fingers and palm, is essential for manipulation and, therefore, is expected to be similarly useful for enabling dexterous robot manipulation. Tactile sensation would ideally be distributed (over large surface areas), have a high precision, and p...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| author | Olivia Leslie David Córdova Bulens Stephen J. Redmond |
| author_facet | Olivia Leslie David Córdova Bulens Stephen J. Redmond |
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| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tactile sensation across the whole hand, including the fingers and palm, is essential for manipulation and, therefore, is expected to be similarly useful for enabling dexterous robot manipulation. Tactile sensation would ideally be distributed (over large surface areas), have a high precision, and provide measurements in multiple axes, allowing for effective manipulation and interaction with objects of varying shapes, textures, friction, and compliance. Given the complex geometries and articulation of state-of-the-art robotic grippers and hands, they would benefit greatly from their surface being instrumented with a thin, curved, and/or flexible tactile sensor technology. However, the majority of current sensor technologies measure tactile information across a planar sensing surface or instrument-curved skin using relatively bulky camera-based approaches; proportionally in the literature, thin and flexible tactile sensor arrays are an under-explored topic. This paper, presents a thin, flexible, non-camera-based optical tactile sensor design as an investigation into the feasibility of adapting our novel LiVec sensing principle to curved and flexible surfaces. To implement the flexible sensor, flexible PCB technology is utilized in combination with other soft components. This proof-of-concept design eliminates rigid circuit boards, creating a sensor capable of providing localized 3D force and 3D displacement measurements across an array of sensing units in a small-thickness, non-camera-based optical tactile sensor skin covering a curved surface. The sensor consists of 16 sensing units arranged in a uniform 4 × 4 grid with an overall size of 30 mm × 30 mm × 7.2 mm in length, width, and depth, respectively. The sensor successfully estimated local XYZ forces and displacements in a curved configuration across all sixteen sensing units, the average force bias values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mi>μ</mi><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were −1.04 mN, −0.32 mN, and −1.31 mN, and the average precision (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>D</mi></mrow><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) was 54.49 mN, 55.16 mN and 97.15 mN, for the X, Y, Z axes, respectively, the average displacement bias values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mi>μ</mi><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were 1.58 μm, 0.29 μm, and −1.99 μm, and the average precision values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>D</mi></mrow><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were 221.61 μm, 247.74 μm, and 44.93 μm for the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively. This work provides crucial insights into the design and calibration of future curved LiVec sensors for robotic fingers and palms, making it highly suitable for enhancing dexterous robotic manipulation in complex, real-world environments. |
| format | Article |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-940a8f37129843ae87e8a528f84759b42025-08-20T02:18:01ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-04-01258254410.3390/s25082544On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile SensorOlivia Leslie0David Córdova Bulens1Stephen J. Redmond2School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD), D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD), D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD), D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandTactile sensation across the whole hand, including the fingers and palm, is essential for manipulation and, therefore, is expected to be similarly useful for enabling dexterous robot manipulation. Tactile sensation would ideally be distributed (over large surface areas), have a high precision, and provide measurements in multiple axes, allowing for effective manipulation and interaction with objects of varying shapes, textures, friction, and compliance. Given the complex geometries and articulation of state-of-the-art robotic grippers and hands, they would benefit greatly from their surface being instrumented with a thin, curved, and/or flexible tactile sensor technology. However, the majority of current sensor technologies measure tactile information across a planar sensing surface or instrument-curved skin using relatively bulky camera-based approaches; proportionally in the literature, thin and flexible tactile sensor arrays are an under-explored topic. This paper, presents a thin, flexible, non-camera-based optical tactile sensor design as an investigation into the feasibility of adapting our novel LiVec sensing principle to curved and flexible surfaces. To implement the flexible sensor, flexible PCB technology is utilized in combination with other soft components. This proof-of-concept design eliminates rigid circuit boards, creating a sensor capable of providing localized 3D force and 3D displacement measurements across an array of sensing units in a small-thickness, non-camera-based optical tactile sensor skin covering a curved surface. The sensor consists of 16 sensing units arranged in a uniform 4 × 4 grid with an overall size of 30 mm × 30 mm × 7.2 mm in length, width, and depth, respectively. The sensor successfully estimated local XYZ forces and displacements in a curved configuration across all sixteen sensing units, the average force bias values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mi>μ</mi><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were −1.04 mN, −0.32 mN, and −1.31 mN, and the average precision (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>D</mi></mrow><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) was 54.49 mN, 55.16 mN and 97.15 mN, for the X, Y, Z axes, respectively, the average displacement bias values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mi>μ</mi><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were 1.58 μm, 0.29 μm, and −1.99 μm, and the average precision values (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mover><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>D</mi></mrow><mo>¯</mo></mover></semantics></math></inline-formula>) were 221.61 μm, 247.74 μm, and 44.93 μm for the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively. This work provides crucial insights into the design and calibration of future curved LiVec sensors for robotic fingers and palms, making it highly suitable for enhancing dexterous robotic manipulation in complex, real-world environments.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/8/2544tactileopticalflexible |
| spellingShingle | Olivia Leslie David Córdova Bulens Stephen J. Redmond On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor Sensors tactile optical flexible |
| title | On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor |
| title_full | On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor |
| title_fullStr | On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor |
| title_short | On the Feasibility of Adapting the LiVec Tactile Sensing Principle to Non-Planar Surfaces: A Thin, Flexible Tactile Sensor |
| title_sort | on the feasibility of adapting the livec tactile sensing principle to non planar surfaces a thin flexible tactile sensor |
| topic | tactile optical flexible |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/8/2544 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT olivialeslie onthefeasibilityofadaptingthelivectactilesensingprincipletononplanarsurfacesathinflexibletactilesensor AT davidcordovabulens onthefeasibilityofadaptingthelivectactilesensingprincipletononplanarsurfacesathinflexibletactilesensor AT stephenjredmond onthefeasibilityofadaptingthelivectactilesensingprincipletononplanarsurfacesathinflexibletactilesensor |