Discrimination of material property by pressure-conductive rubber sheet sensor with multi-sensing function

A new technique for discrimination of material property by a pressure-conductive rubber sheet sensor with multi-sensing function is proposed. Firstly, we found the thermal conductivity and hardness of four typical materials when the rubber sheet, of which the resistance is influenced by not only pressure but also temperature, is put on the flat surface of the material. Furthermore, we proposed a tactile sensor with eight latticed small patch rubber elements and three kinds of surface models for discriminating the difference of the surface situation of materials, and obtained a good result to recognize the thermal property and the hardness property of material and also the surface situation of the model surface of the material.