A novel tactile sensor torch system for robot manipulator and active object edge tracking

This paper presents a tactile sensor torch system for robot manipulator and an active sensing technique to realize a 3-D object edge tracking with experimental results. The tactile sensor torch implemented on the robot hand consists of two automatic swap functions. One is tactile sensing for object edge detection with three thin sheets of force sensitive resistors arranged triangularly. Another is a simulated welding torch with moving mechanisms. One potential application of the proposed tactile sensor torch is a hand pose control for searching the object edge automatically. Another is a 3-D object edge tracing. The proposed techniques can be employed in industrial processes such as welding and inspection to eliminate manual teaching procedures. In these applications, information about the object shape or orientation is not required in advance.