An electromechanical sensor and a method of sensing an object or a tactile input using the sensor. The sensor includes: a base provided with a magnetic sensor arranged to detect a change in magnetic flux at the position of the magnetic sensor; a flexible film adjacent to the magnetic sensor; and a magnetic element provided on the flexible film; wherein the magnetic element is arranged to move relative to the magnetic sensor when the flexible film is reversibly deformed by an external force applied to the flexible film.

A stretchable sensor skin is provided, which is a soft tactile sensor sleeve that can cover large areas of a robot, and is both low-cost and robust. It is made of elastomer molded pouches (referred to as sensor taxels) that when contacted transmit pneumatic pressure to off-board barometric sensors, via stretchable channels. The entirely soft makeup of the sleeve makes it highly conformable to 3D curved geometries of a robot. The stretchable channels mean that it can cover joints without wiring getting caught. The stretchable rubber channels are also inherently more robust than stretchable conductor approaches, and the skin lacks fragile soft-rigid interfaces that has plagued many other sensor skins. The fact that there are no conductive components also makes the skin easy to sanitize and waterproof.

A robot comprising: a chopstick, configured for at least four degrees of freedom of movement, a stiff body of shape and proportions approximate to a pool cue; an electromagnetic actuator, comprising a motor, for each degree of freedom of movement coupled with the stiff body, wherein the functional mapping from each actuator's motor current to torque output along an axis of motion is stored, and used in concert with a calibrated model of the robot for effective impedance control; and a 6-axis force/torque sensor mounted inline between the actuators and each chopstick.

The present invention relates to a tactile sensor, a tactile stimulation sensing method using the same, and a robot skin and a robot comprising the same. Particularly, the present invention relates to a tactile sensor comprising an input layer for receiving an external tactile stimulus; a microphone member; and a medium layer disposed between the input layer and the microphone member, and including gas therein to transmit vibrations by the stimulus, a tactile stimulation sensing method using the same, and a robot skin and a robot comprising the same.

The purpose is to provide a tactile information conversion device, a tactile information conversion method, and a tactile information conversion program, which are usable for general purposes by presenting or sensing an arbitrary tactile feeling. In order to provide tactile information to an output unit capable of outputting physical quantities including electricity, force, temperature, vibration, and/or time and space, at least two or more of the physical quantities are selected according to a tactile feeling to be presented, tactile information for presenting the predetermined tactile feeling is generated based on the physical quantities that have been selected, and the tactile information that has been generated is output to the output unit.

The present invention discloses a care robot controller, which includes: a controller body that includes slide rails, finger slot sliders and a joystick, wherein the finger slot sliders are movably arranged on the slide rails and configured to receive pressing, and the joystick is configured to control the care robot; a gesture parsing unit configured to parse three-dimensional gestures of the controller body, and control the care robot to perform corresponding actions when the three-dimensional gestures of the controller body are in line with preset gestures; and a tactile sensing unit configured to sense the pressing received by the finger slot sliders and initiate a user mode corresponding to the pressing information, so that the controller body provides corresponding vibration feedback. Thus the user can control the controller efficiently and conveniently, the control accuracy is improved, and effective man-machine interaction is realized.

A robot system includes a robot main body, a sensor that detects a magnitude of an external force applied to the robot main body, a control unit that controls the robot main body, a reference value storage unit that stores a value of an external force detected by the sensor as a reference external force value in an operating state where only the weight of the robot main body and the load handled by the robot main body act on the robot main body, a determination unit that, during operation of the robot main body, determines that an external force other than the weight of the robot main body and the load acts on the robot main body when an absolute value of a difference between a value of an external force detected by the sensor and the stored reference external force value is larger than a predetermined threshold value.

An open platform surgical robotic system for use in manipulating and actuating a surgical hand instrument of the type having a handle configured to be grasped by a human hand and actuation members of elements configured to be operated by fingers of a human hand. The system includes a robotic arm including an end effector having a gripper comprising a plurality of digits. The digits are configured to receive the handle of the manual surgical instrument and operate the actuation members.

Systems and methods for visuo-tactile object pose estimation are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving image data about an object and receiving depth data about the object. The method also includes generating a visual estimate of the object based on the image data and the depth data. The method further includes receiving tactile data about the object. The method yet further includes generating a tactile estimate of the object based on the tactile data. The method includes estimating a pose of the object based on the visual estimate and the tactile estimate.

Systems and methods for visuo-tactile object pose estimation are provided. In one embodiment, a computer implemented method includes receiving image data, depth data, and tactile data about the object in the environment. The computer implemented method also includes generating a visual estimate of the object that includes an object point cloud. The computer implemented method further includes generating a tactile estimate of the object that includes a surface point cloud based on the tactile data. The computer implemented method yet further includes estimating a pose of the object based on the visual estimate and the tactile estimate by fusing the object point cloud and the surface point cloud in a 3D space. The pose is a six-dimensional pose.