Tactile sensing for gecko-inspired adhesion

X. Alice Wu; Srinivasan A. Suresh; Hao Jiang; John V. Ulmen; Elliot W. Hawkes; David L. Christensen; Mark R. Cutkosky

IROS 2015poster30 citations

Tactile sensing for gecko-inspired adhesion

X. Alice Wu, Srinivasan A. Suresh, Hao Jiang, John V. Ulmen, Elliot W. Hawkes, David L. Christensen, Mark R. Cutkosky

Abstract

Adhesion quality sensing is critical to the performance of any robot that utilizes gecko-inspired dry adhesives for climbing, perching, or grasping. We present a 3-axis tactile sensor designed for this application that demonstrates performance on par with a large commercial load cell while being compact enough to integrate into a robot foot. The sensor can measure spatially distributed force loads and demonstrates high sensitivity in both shear and normal components. Results showcase the sensor's ability to detect a variety of unreliable contact and loading conditions before the onset of adhesion failure.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{iros2015_tactilesensingfo,
  title = {Tactile sensing for gecko-inspired adhesion},
  author = {X. Alice Wu and Srinivasan A. Suresh and Hao Jiang and John V. Ulmen and Elliot W. Hawkes and David L. Christensen and Mark R. Cutkosky},
  booktitle = {IROS 2015},
  year = {2015}
}