Design and Characterization of a Three-Axis Hall Effect-Based Soft Skin Sensor
Tito Pradhono Tomo,
Sophon Somlor,
Alexander Schmitz,
Lorenzo Jamone,
Weijie Huang,
Harris Kristanto,
Shigeki Sugano
Affiliations
Tito Pradhono Tomo
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Sophon Somlor
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Alexander Schmitz
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Lorenzo Jamone
Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon 1049-001, Portugal
Weijie Huang
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Harris Kristanto
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Shigeki Sugano
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
This paper presents an easy means to produce a 3-axis Hall effect–based skin sensor for robotic applications. It uses an off-the-shelf chip and is physically small and provides digital output. Furthermore, the sensor has a soft exterior for safe interactions with the environment; in particular it uses soft silicone with about an 8 mm thickness. Tests were performed to evaluate the drift due to temperature changes, and a compensation using the integral temperature sensor was implemented. Furthermore, the hysteresis and the crosstalk between the 3-axis measurements were evaluated. The sensor is able to detect minimal forces of about 1 gf. The sensor was calibrated and results with total forces up to 1450 gf in the normal and tangential directions of the sensor are presented. The test revealed that the sensor is able to measure the different components of the force vector.
