Novel Fingertip Equipped with Soft Skin and Hard Nail for Dexterous Multi-Fingered Robotic Manipulation

Abstract

This paper describes a novel fingertip equipped with a soft elastic cover and a solid nail. The elastic cover of the fingertip enables changing friction coefficient at the contact with an object. It also enables detecting change of contact type with an object: the fingertip contact with a flat surface and with a convex sharp edge. The solid nail enables detecting a very small step of sub-millimeter on a smooth surface.