A Multimodal, Adjustable Sensitivity, Digital 3-Axis Skin Sensor Module

This paper presents major improvements to a multimodal, adjustable sensitivity skin sensor module. It employs a geomagnetic 3-axis Hall effect sensor to measure changes in the position of a magnetic field generated by an electromagnet. The electromagnet is mounted on a flexible material, and different current values can be supplied to it, enabling adjustments to the sensitivity of the sensor during operation. Capacitive sensing has been added in this iteration of the module, with two sensing modalities: “pre-touch” detection with proximity sensing and normal force capacitive sensing. The sensor has been designed to be interconnected with other sensor modules to be able to cover large surfaces of a robot with normal and shear force sensing and object proximity detection. Furthermore, this paper introduces important size reductions of the previous sensor design, calibration results, and further analysis of other sensor characteristics.