Tactile sensing is an essential capability for robots that carry out dexterous manipulation tasks. While cameras, Lidars and other remote sensors can assess a scene globally and instantly, tactile sensors can reduce their measurement uncertainties and gain information about the local physical interactions between the in-contact objects and the robot, that are often not accessible via remote sensing. Tactile sensors can be grouped into two main categories: electronic tactile skins and camera based optical tactile sensors. The former are slim and can be fitted to different body parts, whereas the latter assume a more prismatic shape and have much higher sensing resolutions, offering a good advantage for being used as robotic fingers or fingertips. One of such optical tactile sensors is our GelTip sensor that is shaped as a finger and can sense contacts on any location of its surface. As such, the GelTip sensor is able to detect contacts from all the directions, like a human finger. To capture these contacts, it uses a camera installed at its base to track the deformations of the opaque elastomer that covers its hollow, rigid and transparent body. Thanks to this design, a gripper equipped with GelTip sensors is capable of simultaneously monitoring contacts happening inside and outside its grasp closure. Experiments carried out using this sensor demonstrate how contacts can be localised, and more importantly, the advantages, and even possibly a necessity, of leveraging all-around touch sensing in dexterous manipulation tasks in clutter where contacts may happen at any location of the finger. All the materials for the fabrication of the GelTip sensor can be found at https://danfergo.github.io/geltip/
翻译:触觉感应器是执行极速操纵任务的机器人的基本能力。 相机、 Lidars 和其他远程传感器可以在全球和瞬间评估场景, 触摸感应器可以减少测量不确定性, 并获得关于接触对象和机器人之间局部物理互动的信息, 这些信息通常无法通过遥感获得。 触摸感应器可以分为两大类: 电子触摸皮和基于相机的光触感应器。 前者微弱, 可以安装到不同的身体部位, 而后者则具有更高的感应分辨率, 为用作机器人手指或指尖提供良好的优势。 这种光学触觉感应器之一是我们的GelgoTip感应器, 其形状是手指, 能感应到任何表面的任何地方。 因此, GelTip 感应器能够从各个方向探测到接触, 如人类手指。 要捕捉到这些接触, 它可以使用在它的底部安装的任何摄像头来追踪不透明感应感应感应变的变形结构, 它的触觉感应的触感应器可以作为机器人的触感应器,, 其触觉的触摸力感应器的触摸力感应器, 的触地的触摸力感应力感应器, 的触地的感应力感应力感应力感应力感应力感应力感应器, 、感应的感应力感应力感应力感应力感应器, 、感应力感应器, 、感应力感应力感应力的感应力感应力感应力感应力感的感的感的感的感应力感的感应力感的感的感应力感, 、感应力感, 、感应力感的感应力感应力感应力感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感应力感应力感, 、感应力感, 、感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感, 、感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感的感