Development of a Vision-Based Soft Tactile Muscularis

In this paper, we introduce our preliminary results in the development of a vision-based tactile sensing system at large scale, called muscularis. The muscularis is an elongated structure with a rigid transparent bone covered by a soft tactile skin whose stiffness can be varied by pressurization of a chamber. Inner layer of the skin is covered by an array of markers with reflective white coating paint. Two cameras are layout at two ends of the muscularis for tracking three-dimensional movement of markers under interaction with surrounding environment (including humans). We also proposed a method for real-time construction of the muscularis's tactile information under physical interaction/impact. As a result, the muscularis can estimate detailed movements of all markers, and interpret information of multiple contact locations. The developed tactile muscularis can be integrated on the standard articulate robotic arm for enhancement of the robot's interaction with the surroundings under physical acting. This work is also expected to pave a way for the development of a friendly robot with proper tactile sensing for safe and comfortable interaction with humans.