Force detectable surface covers for humanoid robots

We describe force detectable surface covers for humanoid robots to realize naturally physical interaction with humans. The covers can detect various tactile and force information. First, a basic surface cover structure composed of a force-torque sensor and several touch sensors is proposed. Next, we present a design method to implement such a cover structure onto dual arms of an actual humanoid robot. Finally, from basic experiments for verifying the characteristics of the proposed force-detectable surface cover systems, it was confirmed that a high measurement accuracy of contact position and force vectors is accomplished. In addition, from the application experiment, where some humans have actual physical contacts with an actual humanoid robot overlaid with the covers, it confirms the effectiveness of the covers sensing capability even under contacts on several part of the robots´ body for realizing high level human-robot symbiosis