Synergy of Tactile and Force Sensing for Grasping and Safe Human Robot interaction

Abstract

Soft robotics, based on force and torque sensing, became finally industrial reality, after decades of intensive research. However, without the sense of touch, dexterity and safety of robots still remains far beyond human performance. While many prototypes and even commercial products for tactile sensors are available today, a similar breakthrough as for force/torque sensing cannot be recognized yet. The presentation will address hardware issues in the development of DLR tactile and force sensors as well as several approaches of using and integrating those sensors in the area of dexterous grasping and safe physical human-robot interaction.