Object exploration and manipulation using a robotic finger equipped with an optical three-axis tactile sensor

SUMMARY To evaluate our three-axis tactile sensor developed in preceding papers, a tactile sensor is mounted on a robotic finger with 3-degrees of freedom. We develop a dual computer system that possesses two computers to enhance processing speed: one is for tactile information processing and the other controls the robotic finger; these computers are connected to a local area network. Three kinds of experiments are performed to evaluate the robotic finger's basic abilities required for dexterous hands. First, the robotic hand touches and scans flat specimens to evaluate their surface condition. Second, it detects objects with parallelepiped and cylindrical contours. Finally, it manipulates a parallelepiped object put on a table by sliding it. Since the present robotic hand performed the above three tasks, we conclude that it is applicable to the dexterous hand in subsequent studies.