A tactile array sensor layered in an artificial skin

Although major research efforts were devoted in the past to the development of tactile sensing systems for robots, a truly usable, robust, reliable and cheap system is not available yet. This paper presents the design of a tactile sensor system which could fulfil the above requirements. The sensor incorporates multiple sensing subsystems for detecting distributed contact forces and surface characteristics. The fabrication and experimental evaluation of the tactile system and of its electric interface are described. Results indicate that the system provides reasonable performances for practical applications requiring manipulation with tactile feedback.