HANDLING OBJECTS OF UNKNOWN CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract Tasks such as grasping objects of unknown characteristic or handling items of varying batch sizes and compliance calls for intelligent manipulators. Excessive gripping forces could produce severe object damage. This paper outlines the details of a tactile sensor using magneto-resistive technology. The sensor not only has to make readings of normal, tangential and rotational forces but also be intergrated to a real time control system which copes with characteristic changes occuring within the body of the compliant object. Such a control strategy is described.