A modular high-speed tactile sensor for human manipulation research

Tactile sensing is an important field of research in the domains of human-computer and human-robot interaction. To provide appropriate tactile sensing capabilities, this work presents the development of a new modular tactile sensor system focusing especially on high frame rates (up to 1.9 kHz) and good spatial resolution (5 mm). Larger sensor areas are composed from identical sensor modules providing a 16×16 matrix of tactels. We compare different tactel layouts and different force-sensitive materials to achieve optimal sensitivity especially to low forces in order to facilitate detection of first touch. An example application demonstrates the capability of the developed sensor to detect tiny variations in applied force.