Combined tactile and proximity sensor employing compound-eye camera

Abstract

We propose an optical sensing device to obtain both tactile and proximity information with high spatial resolution that is necessary while grasping small and intricately-shaped objects using a robot hand. In our proposed device, tactile information is obtained through a light conductive plate, which allows the capture of a tactile image of high spatial resolution using a camera. Proximity information is detected on the basis of stereo matching of a pair of images obtained by two cameras through the transparent light conductive plate. In order to realize this concept in a small device, a compound-eye camera which is composed of a single image sensor and an array of nine micro lenses is introduced. A prototype device provides three visible light and three infrared images for proximity and tactile information, respectively. The performance of the prototype is evaluated through an experiment and the factors affecting its performance are discussed.