Optimized configuration of a tactile sensor system for flexible grippers

Autonomous grasping operations in dynamical environments are key elements of solutions for Factory-of-the-Future scenarios. The manipulator has to cope with a broad variety of objects with different shapes, materials and uncertain poses but at the same time it should provide reliable grasping and placement operations. Within this context, tactile sensors mounted directly on the grippers are a promising solution for monitoring the grasping process. They operate independently from light or line of sight configurations, thus offer a new object detection modality, besides optical-based systems. We receive an imprint of the grasped object with a spatial resolution according to the sensor pattern. However, in case of grippers with a flexible structure and material, this method generates spurious measurements if the gripper is deformed during a manipulation process. This effect disturbs the evaluation of the gripper's state or object position. In this paper, we develop the specification of a tailored tactile sensor configuration able to handle gripper deformations. Based on the results we present a proof-of-concept implementation.