Difference-based estimation of support friction

Human perception is based on differences. After all, nobody will ask you to hold an object and measure its weight to three significant figures and expect you to succeed. But comparing the weight of the object to another object (say, an apple) would be an easy task and an everyday occurrence. In this paper we explore support friction estimation for pushing operations. We present two difference-based techniques for measuring friction (a transition-based method and a work-based method) and test each using two different force sensors (a commercial sensor and an estimation method based on motor torque). Our results show that low-cost, noisy force sensors perform just as well as highly accurate sensors when used with our difference-based friction estimation techniques. Finally, we present an algorithm which determines if two objects have statistically similar support friction coefficients using a modified version of studentpsilas t-test.