A tactile shape sensing and display system for teleoperated manipulation

This paper presents a system for relaying distributed tactile information from the finger tips of a remote manipulator to the finger tips of a human teleoperator. Tactile array sensors measure the pressure distribution at the contact between the robot hand and the grasped object. A computer samples this pressure signal and applies signal processing algorithms. The resulting signal drives a tactile shape display mounted on the master manipulator. This device raises an array of pins against the operator´s finger tip skin to recreate the object shape. This system has been tested on a force-reflecting teleoperated hand. Experiments confirm the system´s ability to convey significant contact information