A Tactile Sensor for Incipient Slip Detection

This article introduces a new tactile sensor for incipient slip detection.The sensor has concentric circular ridges over its surface and is designed with the aim of differentiating between local slip and total slip.Partial deformation of ridges on the edge of contact with the object exposes built-in fiber optics to ambient light.Changes in light signals are used as an indication of incipient slip.A two-stage computer simulation is presented using finite element, graphics, and image processing software.Experiments reveal an early change in light signals that can be used to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed Sensor.