A tactile sensor based on magneto-sensitive elastomer to determine the position of an indentation

Abstract. In this paper, we investigate the capabilities of a tactile sensor based on magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSEs). The main feature of the sensor is the determination of the position of indentation. The principle is based on inductance measurements of multiple planar coils and a soft magneto-sensitive layer. The proposed prototype consists of a linear array of hexagonal coils with overlapping sections. First, the results of the experiments are presented, which include a sampling of a sensor region with indentations of constant depth. Subsequently, we introduce a mathematical model based on the bell-shaped flux density distribution of a planar coil. This model consists of ellipse equations with three parameters and a polynomial fit for each parameter. Finally, solving the system of equations results in the determination of the x coordinate of the indentation.