Free-Form Tactile Sensor Using 3-Dimensional Shape Capture Sheet

We are developing a novel sensing device named "3-dimensional capture sheet (3DCS) ". The cloth-like sheet measures its own 3D configuration. The sheet enables us to make a soft tactile sensor by wrapping a compressible material in it. The number, shapes, and positions of objects are obtained from the surface deformation of the material. The contact forces are also estimated. There is a lattice structure inside the sheet, and each link of the structure has a triaxial accelerometer. The roll and pitch angles of the link are derived from the gravity vector measured by the accelerometer. Furthermore, the relative yaw angle is also determined owing to the lattice structure. The posture of each link is fully described by these three angles. Then, the whole shape of the sheet is estimated by combining all of the links in computation