Development of a 3-axis Human Fingertip Tactile Sensor Based on Distributed Hall Effect Sensors

Measuring the forces that humans exert during object manipulation could have several applications, including skill transfer from humans to robots, human monitoring or product optimization. However, measuring the forces from humans without obstructing their interaction with the environment is challenging. In previous research we suggested a tactile sensor that does not cover the human's skin that is in contact with the object. In particular, the sensors are placed on the sides of the human's fingertips, and measure the deformation of the fingerpad resulting from interaction with objects. The current paper proposes a vastly improved design, using four 3-axis sensors to measure the fingerpad deformation. Thereby, the area of the fingertip from which forces can be detected is larger, and a higher signal-to-noise ratio was achieved. Moreover, the mounting on the fingertip was improved, as well as the calibration procedure. An evaluation with 10 subjects was performed, demonstrating the improved sensor characteristics.