Environmental recognition using artificial active antenna system with quartz resonator force sensor

Environmental recognition using tactile sensing plays an important role in the field of robotics. An artificial active antenna, based on the concept of an insect antenna, has been suggested as a suitable tactile sensor for use in environmental recognition in recent years. A robot sensor, such as an artificial active antenna, usually coexists with an actuator which generates electrical noise. Accordingly, it is a requirement that the robot sensor is insensitive to the noise. A force sensor using a quartz resonator is inherently insensitive to noise because the output is a frequency shift. In this study, a quartz resonator was applied to a force sensor built into an artificial active antenna, and various environments were recognized using the antenna. The result of the recognition confirms that a quartz resonator is useful as a sensor to acquire information about the contact.