Contact Force Decomposition Using Contact Pressure Distribution

Many robotics applications involving contact with objects require the decomposition of an external force measured by a force sensor into its normal and shear components. In this paper, we present a general and effective contact force decomposition method based on the contact pressure distribution. The contact pressure distribution can be measured easily using recently developed flexible pressure sensor arrays. Our method requires no preprocessing and provides accurate force decomposition, even for concave external objects. These advantages are demonstrated by simulations and experiments.