Tactile Sensor | Robotic Tactile Sensing | Fingertip Force Sensor

What is a tactile sensor?

A tactile sensor (aka fingertip force sensor) is a device that measures the forces in response to the physical interaction with the environment. The sense of touch in humans is modeled based on the biological sense of touch provoked by the mechanical stimulation of the skin. Tactile sensors are used in robotics, computer hardware, and security systems. A common application of tactile sensors is in robotic hands and fingers (i.e. robotic tactile sensing).

Why are Tactile Sensors so important in robotic applications? 
One of the main challenges facing the robotic industry today is that the dexterity of the fingers precludes conventional robotic systems from doing about 95% of all manual jobs. Preparing a drink, folding a napkin, cleaning a chandelier, etc. requires extreme dexterity. Replacing these types of manual labor with robots requires accurately measuring and controlling the robot’s grasping force to increase dexterity and to make sure that fragile objects are not crushed by the gripper (i.e. semiconductor wafer handling ). Although load cells are reliable sensors for force measurement, they have historically been limited by their bulky construction.

Multiple Load Button Load Cells are utilized as a tactile sensor to measure the tactile force produced by an industrial robot. FUTEK has developed a technical article detailing the use of load cells in robotic prosthetics and grippers for robotic tactile sensing.