Robotic sensor for object recognition

The authors discuss the development of an electromagnetic sensor cell to do proximity sensing as well as tactile sensing. In this sensor cell, a magnetic coil (primary coil) is excited by a high-frequency voltage source producing a high-frequency magnetic field in the region. This field is coupled with another magnetic coil (sensor coil). The high-permeability sensor core (Metglass) causes the cell to be highly sensitive and any nearby interruption in the magnetic field gets amplified (proximity sensing). On the other hand, the two-mutually-coupled-coil configuration of the cell enables it to sense the pressure on its surface due to reduction in the distance between the two coils (pressure sensing). The tiny size of the sensor is one of the features that make it well suited for high-resolution sensing (dense packing)