A new sensing method using contact voltage for material discrimination

This paper proposes a new tactile sensing method for material discrimination. The proposed method is based on the fact that the voltage induced by contact between the proposed tactile sensor and the material (contact voltage) is different according to the material in question. This makes it possible to discriminate materials by using the contact voltage waveform. In the experiment, four kinds of materials: aluminium, acrylic resin, urethan gel, and silicone sponge were prepared and the ability to discriminate the different materials was demonstrated using the contact voltage characteristic and the usefulness of the proposed sensor was discussed.