Tactile Sensor Pad Calibration Using Pad-Wide Force Regression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tactile sensor calibration methods fail to accurately measure force interaction between surfaces due to issues with individual taxel calibration, signal processing, and sensor discretization, leading to incorrect force measurements and unmeasured forces.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system for tactile sensor calibration that interpolates and aligns force and tactile data from a tactile sensor pad, computes linear regression for each segment, and determines the center of pressure to convert tactile measurements into Newtons, providing accurate force measurement across the entire sensor pad.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If individual taxel calibration is used to transform measurements into force readings, then each taxel can be calibrated separately, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to interaction over larger proportion of taxel, signal processing issues, unmeasured force due to sensor discretization, and aggregation issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the calibration process from individual taxel level to pad-wide level. Instead of calibrating each taxel separately, the system applies force to the entire sensor pad and uses the aggregate response of all taxels to establish a calibration model. This combines the measurements across all taxels to overcome individual taxel limitations and achieve more accurate force measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational process that maps between pad-wide force applications and the aggregate taxel responses. This intermediary layer processes the raw taxel measurements through regression analysis and normalization to derive accurate force readings, acting as a mediator between the physical sensor array and the final force measurement output.
2Adaptability or versatility
If tactile sensor pad is used to measure force interaction between surfaces, then force measurement capability is provided, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to sensor discretization and aggregation issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the calibration parameters from individual taxel sensitivity factors to pad-wide force-response relationships. By shifting the calibration parameters to operate at the aggregate level rather than the discrete taxel level, the system overcomes the measurement inaccuracies caused by sensor discretization while maintaining the versatility of tactile sensing across the entire pad surface.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for providing tactile sensor calibration that include receiving force data from a force/torque sensor and tactile data from a plurality of taxels of a tactile sensor pad. The system and method also include interpolating the force data and the tactile data and pre-processing the interpolated data to align the force data and the tactile data to match data points. The system and method additionally include dividing the matched data points into individual interactions and computing a linear regression for each segment that is associated with each interaction. The system and method further include determining an amount of force that is absorbed by the tactile sensor pad based on a conversion of tactile measurements sensed by the plurality of taxels into Newtons based on the linear regression computed for each segment.