Dynamic tactile information sensing for dextrous fingers utilizing displacement parameters of a suspension shell

This paper describes an optical displacement measurement method to develop tactile sensors based on a suspension-shell mechanism for dextrous fingers. To express position and orientation of the suspension-shell, three parameters of angular displacements and two parameters of linear displacements are introduced. Besides, a method for measuring these five parameters using inverse optical projection is proposed. Only the longitudinal force of the springs suspending the shell coaxially around the rigid finger body is considered. Thus, the dynamic analysis of balance becomes very simple. Algebraic formulations for estimating magnitude, direction and position of the external force are shown. Also, simulations to verify the proposed procedures are made