Miniaturization and High-Density Arrangement of Microcantilevers in Proximity and Tactile Sensor for Dexterous Gripping Control

In this paper, in order to perform delicate and advanced grip control like human, a proximity and tactile combination sensor using miniaturized microcantilevers one-fifth the size of previous one as the detection part was newly developed. Microcantilevers were arranged with higher spatial density than in previous works and an interdigitated array electrode to enhance light sensitivity was added. It is found that the interdigitated array electrode can detect light with 1.6 times higher sensitivity than that in previous works and the newly fabricated microcantilevers have enough sensitivity to applied normal and shear loads. Therefore, more accurate detection of proximity distance and spatial distribution of contact force become available for dexterous gripping control to prevent ‘overshooting’, ‘force control error’, and ‘slipping’.