Differential surface models for tactile perception of shape and online tracking of features

The online kinematic problem for gliding or rolling on an unknown surface is addressed, treating it as a simple two-rigid-body problem. A planar rigid-body end effector is considered that maintains contact with a rigid body of unknown shape by gliding or rolling on it. The smooth surface of the end effector is assumed to be known implicitly or parametrically in its own coordinate system. The authors present the main results both in equation form and diagrammatically. The figure given implies that if the parameters of the robot are known as well as its state, the forces of contact can be computed. However, due to the extensive amount of data required for this condition to be met, the required sensory and computational machinery may be exorbitant. Moreover, the presence of noise and the cost of removing it sufficiently make this approach impractical at present.<>