A flexible tactile sensor calibration method based on an air-bearing six-dimensional force measurement platform

A number of common issues related to the process of flexible tactile sensor calibration are discussed in this paper, and an estimate of the accuracy of classical calibration methods, as represented by a weight-pulley device, is presented. A flexible tactile sensor calibration method that is based on a six-dimensional force measurement is proposed on the basis of a theoretical analysis. A high-accuracy flexible tactile sensor calibration bench based on the air-bearing six-dimensional force measurement principle was developed to achieve a technically challenging measurement accuracy of 2% full scale (FS) for three-dimensional (3D) flexible tactile sensor calibration. The experimental results demonstrate that the accuracy of the air-bearing six-dimensional force measurement platform can reach 0.2% FS. Thus, the system satisfies the 3D flexible tactile sensor calibration requirement of 2% FS.