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Design and Characterization of the Seashell Effect Pretouch Sensor Integrated Into Robot Grippers

Authors:
Liang-Ting Jiang
Joshua R. Smith

Keywords: sensor; acoustic; proximity; non-contact; robotics; pretouch

Abstract:
The paper presents a short range proximity pretouch sensor device based on the seashell effect inspired by the phenomenon of “hearing the sea” when a seashell is held to the ear. The acoustic theory, design consideration, and the quantitative characterizations of the sensor under different ambient sound conditions are studied. The sensor has a number of practical benefits compared to conventional sonar-based time of flight sensors: (1) easy sensor integration — the sound stimulus source and the detector do not need to be co-located; (2) short-time measurements are not required; (3) no multi-path effects. The sensors are designed and integrated into a robot’s gripper, which provides a new source of information for robotic manipulation that complements long range depth sensors and contact-based tactile sensors. Continuous object contour tracking using differential measurements with pairs of the new sensors (one in each robot’s fingertip) is demonstrated on objects with different material properties.

Pages: 34 to 40

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013

Publication date: August 25, 2013

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-3514

ISBN: 978-1-61208-297-4

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Dates: from August 25, 2013 to August 31, 2013