Small sized force/torque sensors for robotic arms and hands

• Project/Area Number: 15K21443
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems; Intelligent robotics
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Schmitz Alexander 早稲田大学, 理工学術院, 准教授(任期付) (30729455)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
• Keywords: Tactile Sensor / Force Sensor / F/T sensors / F/T Sensors

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We developed tactile sensors based on capacitive and Hall effect sensing, and implemented them in robot hands. The main novelty is that the skin sensors enable 3-axis force sensing (x,y,z force) in a small and soft form factor. Moreover, capacitive 6-axis force-torque sensors were implemented. All sensors require a minimum number of wires for ease of integration. Furthermore, we performed research on in-hand manipulation.

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] The Queen Mary University of London/School of Electronic Eng. & Comp. Sci.(英国)
• [Int'l Joint Research]
• [Journal Article] Covering a Robot Fingertip With uSkin: A Soft Electronic Skin With Distributed 3-Axis Force Sensitive Elements for Robot Hands (2018)
  • Author(s): Tomo Tito Pradhono、Schmitz Alexander、Wong Wai Keat、Kristanto Harris、Somlor Sophon、Hwang Jinsun、Jamone Lorenzo、Sugano Shigeki
  • Journal Title: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Pages: 124-131
  • DOI: 10.1109/lra.2017.2734965
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Design and Characterization of a Three-Axis Hall Effect-Based Soft Skin Sensor (2016)
  • Author(s): Tomo, T.P., Somlor, S., Schmitz, A., Jamone, L., Huang, W., Kristanto, H. and Sugano, S.
  • Journal Title: Sensors Volume: 16 (4) Issue: 4 Pages: 1-11
  • DOI: 10.3390/s16040491
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] A Novel Tri-axial Capacitive-Type Skin Sensor (2015)
  • Author(s): Somlor, S., Hartanto, R.S., Schmitz, A. and Sugano, S.
  • Journal Title: Advanced Robotics Volume: 29 (21) Issue: 21 Pages: 1375-1391
  • DOI: 10.1080/01691864.2015.1092394
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] First Results of Tilted Capacitive Sensors to Detect Shear Force (2015)
  • Author(s): Somlor, S., Schmitz, A., Hartanto, R.S. and Sugano S.
  • Journal Title: Procedia Computer Science Volume: 76 Pages: 101-106
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.procs.2015.12.289
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Presentation] Development of a Capacitive-type 6-axis Force-Torque Sensor (2017)
  • Author(s): Somlor, S., Schmitz, A., Jinsun, H., Tomo, T.P., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE Sensors Conference 2017
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 柔軟性を有する分散型3軸触覚センサの開発 (2016)
  • Author(s): 黄 偉傑, 黄 振善, Harris Kristanto, Tito Pradhono Tomo, Sophon Somlor, Alexander Schmitz, 菅野 重樹
  • Organizer: 第１７回ＳＩＣＥシステムインテグレーション部門講演会
  • Place of Presentation: Sapporo, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2016-12-15
• [Presentation] SNR Modeling and Material Dependency Test of a Low-cost and Simple to Fabricate 3D Force Sensor for Soft Robotics (2016)
  • Author(s): Tomo, T.P., Wong, W.K., Schmitz, A., Kristanto, H., Somlor, S., Hwang, J., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration
  • Place of Presentation: Sapporo, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2016-12-13
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] A Modular, Distributed, Soft, 3-Axis Sensor System for Robot Hands (2016)
  • Author(s): Tomo, T.P., Wong, W.K., Schmitz, A., Kristanto, H., Sarazin, A., Jamone, L., Somlor, S., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots
  • Place of Presentation: Cancun, Mexico
  • Year and Date: 2016-11-15
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] A Study of Artificial Fingertip Designs and Their Influences on Performing Stable Prehension for Multi-Fingered Robot Hands (2016)
  • Author(s): Or, K., Morikuni, S., Ogasa, S., Funabashi, S., Schmitz, A., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots
  • Place of Presentation: Cancun, Mexico
  • Year and Date: 2016-11-15
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Position-Force Combination Control with Passive Flexibility for Versatile In-Hand Manipulation Based on Posture Interpolation (2016)
  • Author(s): Or, K., Tomura, M., Schmitz, A., Funabashi, S., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
  • Place of Presentation: Daejeon, Korea
  • Year and Date: 2016-10-09
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 能動柔軟性と受動柔軟性による様々な物体の適応的な操りを目指したロボットハンドシステムの構築 (2016)
  • Author(s): Funabashi, S., Tomura, M., Or, K., Schmitz, A., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: 34th Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan
  • Place of Presentation: Yamagata, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-07
• [Presentation] Development of Robotic Fingertip Morphology for Enhanced Manipulation Stability (2016)
  • Author(s): Or, K., Schmitz, A., Funabashi, S., Tomura, M., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics
  • Place of Presentation: Banff, Canada
  • Year and Date: 2016-07-12
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Achievement of In-hand Manipulation by Interpolation Control with Soft Skin (2016)
  • Author(s): Funabashi, S., Tomura, M., Or, K., Schmitz, A., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: Robotics and Mechatronics Conference (Robomech)
  • Place of Presentation: Yokohama, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-08
• [Presentation] Interpolation Control Posture Design for In-Hand Manipulation (2015)
  • Author(s): Or, K., Tomura, M., Schmitz, A., Funabashi, S. and Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII 2015)
  • Place of Presentation: Nagoya, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-12-11
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Feature Extraction by Deep Learning for Improved In-Hand Manipulation (2015)
  • Author(s): Funabashi, S., Sato, T., Schmitz, A., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: 6th International Conference on Advanced Mechatronics (ICAM2015)
  • Place of Presentation: Tokyo, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-12-05
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Development of a Hall-Effect Based Skin Sensor (2015)
  • Author(s): Tomo, T.P, Somlor, S., Jamone, L., Schmitz, A., Hashimoto, S. and Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE SENSORS Conference 2015 (52% acceptance rate)
  • Place of Presentation: Busan, South Korea
  • Year and Date: 2015-11-01
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Robust In-Hand Manipulation of Variously Sized and Shaped Objects (2015)
  • Author(s): Funabashi, S., Schmitz, A., Sato, T., Somlor, S., Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2015)
  • Place of Presentation: Hamburg, Germany
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-29
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] A Haptic Interface with Adjustable Stiffness Using MR Fluid (2015)
  • Author(s): Somlor, S., Aguirre Dominguez, G., Schmitz, A., Kamezaki, M. and Sugano, S.
  • Organizer: IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2015)
  • Place of Presentation: Busan, South Korea
  • Year and Date: 2015-07-07
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Remarks] Position-Force Combination Control with Passive
  • URL: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/video-friday-iros-2016-part-2
• [Patent(Industrial Property Rights)] 身体部位接触力センサ (2017)
  • Inventor(s): シュミッツ アレクサンダー 他
  • Industrial Property Rights Holder: 早稲田大学
  • Industrial Property Rights Type: 特許
  • Industrial Property Number: 2017-009422
  • Filing Date: 2017-01-23
• [Patent(Industrial Property Rights)] 近接触覚センサ (2016)
  • Inventor(s): シュミッツ アレクサンダー 他
  • Industrial Property Rights Holder: 早稲田大学
  • Industrial Property Rights Type: 特許
  • Industrial Property Number: 2016-136574
  • Filing Date: 2016-07-11
• [Patent(Industrial Property Rights)] 多軸力センサ (2015)
  • Inventor(s): シュミッツ ソムロア ハルタント 菅野
  • Industrial Property Rights Holder: 早稲田大学
  • Industrial Property Rights Type: 特許
  • Filing Date: 2015-04-20
  • Overseas