Extraction Of Tactile Features By Passive And Active Sensing

Tactile sensors which are mounted on a robot gripper are typically much smaller than the objects they touch. If the robot system is to use a tactile sensor to perform such tasks as object recognition, parts inspection, or manipulation, then integration of features extracted from multiple sensing incidents will be necessary. This paper describes ways of acquiring tactile features that may be used in such tasks. Extraction of such features requires knowledge of the inherent advantages and limitations of tactile array sensors, and how the information they provide can be combined with information from position and force sensors. A number of tactile features (such as edge radii and object deformation) are best acquired by active sensing, in which the sensor is moved with respect to the object in a known fashion. Some strategies for extraction of tactile features, in both passive and active sensing paradigms, are presented and discussed.