Soft Sensing Skins for Arbitrary Objects: An Automatic Framework

Abstract

Tactile sensors are becoming more prevalent in numerous research domains, including robotics, human-robot interaction, and grasping. As the development of customized soft tactile skin for various applications continues to gain momentum, there is an increasing demand for the automation of design and manufacturing processes based on user specifications. Our work presents a partially automated framework for designing and customizing silicone-based skin-like sensors for objects of arbitrary shapes. We assess the performance of stretch and contact sensors featuring custom patterns on complex surfaces, subjecting them to position control, grasping, and manipulation scenarios. Our study's findings demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating skin-like sensors effectively within a semi-automated framework, with potential applications in the aforementioned research domains.