Abstract
Tactile sensing usually refers to a transducer that is sensitive to touch, force or pressure like human skin. A tactile-sensing array can be considered as a coordinated group of touch sensors. Recently, there has been an increased interest in tactile sensors, yet, the desired level, compared to the human's sensing ability still could not be reached for parameters such as the number of receptors at a certain area. A new, novel and also patented design proposes using change in density of light due to the deformation on contact surface. In this design, an elastic silicone pad that mimics the tissue under the skin of human beings is used. An external stimulus excites on this pad; therefore, a relative deformation occurs. This deformation (displacement) is measured optically by this new sensor. In order to quantify the force map on the contact/measurement surface, a mathematical model is needed in which the input is the displacement and the output is the force. In this paper, both an analytical model and a fuzzy logic model are introduced and compared in order to satisfy this mandatory mathematical model of the silicone pad.