Three-Axis Contact Force Measurement of a Flexible Tactile Sensor Array for Hand Grasping Applications

This chapter explores the development of a flexible tactile sensor array based on pressure conductive rubber for three-axis force measurement in grasping application. The structural design, testing principle, fabrication process, and characterization of the tactile sensor array are presented. Three-axis force measurement performances for all nine sensing units have been carried out. The full-scale force measurement ranges of the tactile sensor array in x-, y- and z-axis are 5, 5, and 20 N, respectively. The corresponding sensitivities in x- and y-axis are 0.838 and 0.834 V/N, respectively. In z-axis, the sensor array has two sensitivities: 0.3675 V/N for 0–10 N and 0.0538 V/N for 10–20 N measurement ranges. Then, the tactile sensor array has been mounted onto a human hand finger and used to measure the real-time 3D contact forces during grasping application. Results showed that the developed tactile sensor array features high sensitivities and has the potential for real-time tactile images for gripping positioning and 3D grasping force feedback control in grasping applications.