JPH0445834Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a skin for a tactile sensor of a manipulator.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, when a tactile sensor is mounted on a manipulator, a tactile sensor skin is placed over the tactile sensor in order to protect the tactile sensor.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, tactile sensors 1 are arranged on the surface 4 of the manipulator, and an elastic protective member 2 such as rubber is provided to cover these tactile sensors 1.

Here, the protection member 2 shown in FIG. 4 is formed with a recessed portion for accommodating the tactile sensor 1, and this recessed portion covers not only the upper surface, which is the detection surface of the tactile sensor 1, but also the side surfaces without any gaps.

On the other hand, the protective member 2 shown in FIG. 5 is planar so as to cover only the upper surface of the tactile sensor 1, and a gap is formed on the side surface of the tactile sensor 1.

Therefore, in this way, the tactile sensor 1 is protected by the protective member 2.
In the covered manipulator, the tactile sensor 1 is covered by the protective member 2 and is not exposed, so that damage to the tactile sensor 1 can be prevented.

Furthermore, when the object 3 is gripped by this manipulator, the protection member 2 is elastically deformed to increase the frictional force, which has the advantage that the object can be gripped stably.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in the above-mentioned skin for a tactile sensor, since the tactile sensor 1 is simply covered with the protective member 2,
There were cases in which the sensitivity of the tactile sensor 1 was extremely reduced.

For example, when the object 3 is located directly above the tactile sensor 1 as shown in FIG. Due to the elastic deformation of 2,
Contact pressure is also detected by other tactile sensors 1 adjacent to the tactile sensor 1.

For this reason, not only was it impossible to detect the true point of contact with the object 3, but there were also cases where a completely different point was mistakenly recognized as the contact point.

In addition, since the protective member 2 shown in FIG. 4 covers not only the upper surface, which is the detection surface of the tactile sensor 1, but also the side surfaces thereof without any gaps, contact with the object 3 may cause the side surfaces of the tactile sensor 1 and the protective member to 2 rubs,
For this reason, the contact pressure measured by the tactile sensor 1 was lower than the actual load.

Furthermore, when the object 3 contacts the protective member 2 at an intermediate position between the plurality of tactile sensors 1 arranged as shown in FIG. 5, the contact pressure need only be detected by the contact sensors 1 on both sides. However, there were cases in which the protective member 2 was bent in a wavy manner, and the contact pressure was detected by the tactile sensor 1 located far away.

For this reason, the above-mentioned problems become more pronounced, and not only does it become impossible to detect the true contact point, but it also becomes difficult to accurately measure the contact pressure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and aims to provide a skin for a tactile sensor that protects the tactile sensor without reducing its sensitivity.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The configuration of the present invention to achieve the above object includes a tactile sensor in which a hollow portion for housing the tactile sensor is formed in an elastic protective member that covers the tactile sensor disposed on the surface of the manipulator. In the skin for use, a protrusion is formed on the ceiling of the cavity to be in close contact with the upper surface of the tactile sensor, and a support supported by the manipulator surface is formed around the cavity;
The present invention is characterized in that a gap is provided between the support column and the side surface of the tactile sensor.

Further, a protrusion may be formed on the upper surface of the protection member directly above the tactile sensor.

<Function> If the tactile sensor is housed in the cavity of the protective member and a protrusion is formed on the ceiling of this cavity that comes into close contact with the top surface of the tactile sensor, the top surface, which is the detection surface of the tactile sensor, will surely come into contact with the protective member. I will do it.

By forming a gap between the support column formed around the cavity and the side surface of the tactile sensor, when an object comes into contact with the protection member, the side surface of the tactile sensor and the support column do not rub. The protective member is deformed, and the load is accurately transmitted to the upper surface of the tactile sensor through the protrusion.

Furthermore, when the support formed around the cavity is supported on the surface of the manipulator, the support can suppress lateral deformation or undulating deformation of the protection member when an object comes into contact with the protection member.

Therefore, when an object comes into contact with the protective member directly above the tactile sensor, a load is only applied to the tactile sensor directly below the cavity and the support around it.
It will not be transmitted to other tactile sensors beyond the support column.

Furthermore, if a protrusion is formed on the top surface of the protection member directly above the tactile sensor, this protrusion will come into contact with the object more easily than the top surface of the protection member other than the protrusion. The dead zone will be reduced.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a skin for a tactile sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a tactile sensor 1 is installed on the surface 4 of the manipulator, and a protective member 2 having elasticity, such as rubber, covers the tactile sensor 1.
is provided.

A cavity 8 is formed in the protection member 2 to accommodate the tactile sensor 1, and the cavity 8 has a larger diameter than the tactile sensor 1.

That is, a protrusion 9 is formed on the ceiling of the cavity 8, and the protrusion 9 is in close contact with the upper surface of the tactile sensor 1.

For this reason, the protection member 2 and the upper surface, which is the detection surface of the tactile sensor 1, are surely in contact with each other.

Further, a support 7 supported by the manipulator surface 4 is installed around the cavity 8, and a gap is formed between the support 7 and the side surface of the tactile sensor 1.

Therefore, the protective member 2 is supported on the manipulator surface 4 by the support column 7 and the tactile sensor 1.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, when the object 3 comes into contact with the protective member 2 directly above the tactile sensor 1, the protective member 2 deforms without friction between the side surface of the contact sensor 1 and the side surface of the cavity 8. Therefore, a load is reliably applied to the upper surface, which is the detection surface, of the tactile sensor 1 via the protrusion 9 .

Here, since the protective member 2 is elastically deformed, the load from the object 3 is not only applied to the tactile sensor 1, but is also transmitted to the supporting column 7 installed around it, and is further transmitted beyond that to the tactile sensor 1. 1 is never transmitted.

For this reason, other tactile sensors 1 will not mistakenly recognize that there is contact, so that the true point of contact can be detected.

Further, the load caused by the object 3 is applied not only to the upper surface of the tactile sensor 1 but also to the support column 7, so the load caused by the object 3 and the contact pressure of the tactile sensor 1 are not equal.

However, the load due to the object 3 is applied to the tactile sensor 1
If we consider that the load is distributed at a constant rate between the tactile sensor 1 and the support column 7, the load due to the object 3 can be calculated from the contact pressure of the tactile sensor 1 by multiplying the contact pressure detected by the tactile sensor 1 by a constant comparison value. is possible.

Therefore, it is possible to remove the influence of the support column 7 and calculate accurate contact pressure.

Furthermore, even if the object 3 is not directly above the tactile sensor 1, if it comes into contact with the protective member 2 directly above the cavity 8, the possible contact point and contact pressure can be reliably detected in the same manner as above. It is thought that it can be done.

In other words, it can be said that the detection range of the tactile sensor 1 has expanded not only to the area directly above the tactile sensor 1 but also to the area directly above the cavity 8.

However, in this case, compared to the case directly above the tactile sensor 1, the load of the object 3 is more dispersed on the support column 7 than on the tactile sensor 1, so detection of the contact pressure is likely to be inaccurate.

In particular, when the object 3 crosses the cavity 8 and comes into contact with the support directly above the support 7, most of the load is transferred to the support 7.
This makes it difficult for the tactile sensor 1 to detect the contact point. In other words, the area directly above the support column becomes a so-called dead zone.

Therefore, in order to accurately measure the contact pressure and reduce such a dead zone, it is desirable to prevent the object part 3 from coming into contact with the support column 7 as much as possible.

Therefore, in a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, a protrusion 6 is formed on the upper surface of the protective member 2 directly above the tactile sensor 1.

In this way, when the object 3 is a small object that falls between the protrusions 6,
Unless there is such a protrusion on the surface of the object 3, the object 3 will come into contact with the protrusion 6, so the load of the object 3 will not be applied directly above the support 7. , the applied load becomes smaller.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the dead zone can be reduced or the contact pressure can be measured accurately.

In this embodiment, since a large number of tactile sensors 1 are arranged in a plane on the manipulator surface 4, the load of the object 3 tends to be easily transmitted to the adjacent tactile sensors 1 due to slight elastic deformation of the protective member 2. .

Therefore, in such a case, as in the third embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable to divide the support portions 7 of the adjacent tactile sensors 1 in the vertical direction to shield the transmission of the load. .

That is, in this embodiment, the protection member 2 having the hollow portion 8 and the support portion 7 is divided and formed for each tactile sensor 1.

In this way, even if the protective member 2 is deformed to some extent, it will not affect the other tactile sensors 1 at all because the support portion 7 is divided.

Therefore, this embodiment has the advantage that the detection of the contact point is particularly accurate.

<Effects of the invention> As explained above in detail based on the examples, the skin for a tactile sensor of the present invention accommodates the tactile sensor in a cavity with a larger diameter than this, and attaches the tactile sensor to the ceiling of the cavity. By providing a protrusion and bringing it into close contact with the tactile sensor, it is possible not only to expand the detection area of the tactile sensor from the area directly above the tactile sensor to the area of the cavity, but also to eliminate friction and ensure accurate contact pressure. can be detected. Further, since a support column fixed to the surface of the manipulator is installed around the tactile sensor, lateral deformation and undulating deformation of the protective member are suppressed, and no load is transmitted to other adjacent tactile sensors. Therefore, the contact point can be determined reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of main parts showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of main parts showing a schematic structure of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of main parts showing a schematic structure of a conventional tactile sensor. In the drawings, 1 is a tactile sensor, 2 is a protective member, 3 is an object, 4 is a surface of a manipulator, 6 and 9 are protrusions, 7 is a support, and 8 is a cavity.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) In a tactile sensor skin in which a cavity for storing the tactile sensor is formed in an elastic protective member that covers the tactile sensor disposed on the surface of the manipulator, the ceiling of the cavity is A protrusion that comes into close contact with the top surface of the tactile sensor is formed on the tactile sensor, and a support supported by the manipulator surface is formed around the cavity, while a gap is provided between the support and the side surface of the tactile sensor. A skin for a tactile sensor characterized by being interposed with. (2) Utility Model Registration The skin for a tactile sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that a protrusion is formed on the upper surface of the protective member directly above the tactile sensor.