New Force/Torque sensor based on optical technology for robot applications

Force/torque and tactile sensing array have been implemented into medical devices, robot applications, and prosthetic hands to interact with environments. For example, during surgical operations, excessive forces by medical devices may damage soft tissues. Robot hands and prosthetic hands for amputees grasp and manipulate an object dextrously without damaging it.

A variety of force/torque sensors based on piezoresistive materials, strain gauges, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films, fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and fibre-optics have so far been proposed in the literature. Those sensing elements are attached to a mechanical structure. When external force/moment components are applied on it, by measuring its direct deformation, they can be estimated.

However, those approaches are sensitive to temperature variation, so temperature compensation circuits are essential, and electrical noise is generated by those sensing elements, so a low-pass filter is required to reduce high-frequency noise.

For this reason, a low-cost tactile and force/torque sensor using optoelectronics has been proposed. Contrary to the direct deformation measurement, optoelectronic components are mounted below the surface of a mechanical structure, and it can measure a tiny distance between the sensor and the surface, thereby indirectly measuring its deformation. The advantages of the use of optoelectronics are its immunity to electrical noise, low power consumption, low-level noise, no need for any electronic filtering, and low cost.

In addition, force/torque and tactile sensors can be designed with optical fibres and optoelectronic components, and the light intensity can be transmitted through a pair of optical fibres to the optoelectronic components placed at the remote site.

This method is suitable for extremely hazardous environments where electronics is prohibited to use such as nuclear waste dump, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, and the deep ocean.

Furthermore, not only recent advances have produced diminutive sized photoelectric sensors, but also Today’s 3D printing technologies allow fabricating miniaturised complex sensor structures in metal material at low cost. Hence, the overall size of the sensor structure can also be reduced and miniaturised in comparison with commercially available force/torque and tactile sensors.

New miniaturised arrays based on optical technology for medical devices

Publications

W. Li, Y. Noh, I. Vitanov, A, Alomainy, Y. Zheng, P. Qi, K. Althoefer, F-TOUCH Sensor for Three-Axis Forces Measurement and Geometry Observation Vision-based 3-axis Force and Tactile Perception Sensor Design, IEEE Sensors Conference, 2020; DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS47125.2020.9278600.

W. Li, I. Vitanov, A, Alomainy, Y. Zheng, Y. Noh, P. Qi, K. Althoefer, F-TOUCH Sensor: Concurrent Geometry Perception and Multi-Axis Force Measurement, IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 20(7), pp. 4300 – 4309, Oct 2020; DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2020.3030631.

Y. Noh, L. Lindenroth, S. Wang, R. J. Housden, A. S. V Wingerden, W. Li, K. Rhode, A 2-piece six-axis force/torque sensor capable of measuring loads applied to tools of complex shapes, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2019), pp. 7976-7981, 2019; DOI: 10.1109/IROS40897.2019.8967947.

W. Li, J. Konstantinova, Y. Noh, Z. Ma, A. Alomainy, K. Althoefer, An Elastomer-Based Flexible Optical Force and Tactile Sensor, RobotSoft 2019, pp 361-366, 2019; DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722793.

C. Lam, Y. Noh, S. Han, S. Luo, M. Howard, K. Rhode, Human finger inspired grasping structure using tactile sensing array with single type optoelectronic sensor, IEEE SENSOR 2017, 2017; DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722793.

S. Prompalit, K. Rhode, G. Fruhwirth, Y. Noh, Development of non-contact device based on optical fibres technology for detectiong respiration of small animal in imaging instruments, IEEE SENSORS 2018, DOI: 10.1109/ICSENS.2018.8589570.

D. Osman, K. Rhode, G. Fruhwirth, Y. Noh, Development of a respiration monitor based on fibre optics & CCD camera for small animal preclinical image, IEEE SENSORS 2018; DOI: 10.1109/ICSENS.2018.8589828.

J. Konstantinova, G. Cotugno, A. Stilli, Y. Noh, K. Althoefer, Object Classification Using Integrated Fibre Optical Tactile Sensor, IEEE SENSOR 2017, 2017; DOI: 10.1109/ICSENS.2017.8234121.

Y. Noh, J. Bimbo, A. Stilli, H. A. Wurdemann, H. Liu, R. Housden, K. Rhode,K. Althoefer, A New Miniaturised Multi-Axis Force/Torque Sensors based on Optoelectronic Technology, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2016), pp. 202-207 2016; DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759056.

Y. Noh, J. Bimbo, S. Sareh, H. Wurdemann, J. Fraś, H. Liu, J. Housden, K. Althoefer, K. Rhode Multi-Axis force/torque sensor based on Simply-Supported beam and optoelectronics, MDPI Sensors, 16(11), 1936, 2016; DOI: 10.3390/s16111936.

Y. Noh, H. Liu, S. Sareh, Katudampe, H. Wurdemann, K. Althoefer, Image based Optical Miniaturized Three-Axis Force Sensor for Cardiac Catheterization, IEEE Sensors Journal, 16(22), 7544487, pp. 7924-7932, 2016; DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2016.2600671.

D. S. Chathuranga, Z. Wang, Y. Noh, T. Nanayakkara, S. Hirai, A Soft Three Axis Force Sensors that is Useful for Robot Grippers, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2016), pp.5556-5563, 2016; DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759817.

Y. Noh, S. Sareh, H. A. Würdemann, H. Liu, J. Housden, K. Rhode, K. Althoefer, Three-axis Fiber-optic Body Force Sensor for Flexible Manipulators, IEEE Sensors Journal, 16(6), pp. 1641-1651, 2016; DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2015.2488099.

Y. Noh, R. J. Housden, A. Gomez, C. Knight, F. Garcia, H. Liu, R. Razavi, K. Rhode, K. Althoefer, An Ergonomic Handheld Ultrasound Probe Providing Contact Forces and Pose Information, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2015), pp. 5773 – 5776, 2015; DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319704.

D. S. Chathuranga, Z. Wang, Y. Noh, T. Nanayakkara, S. Hirai, Robust real time material classification algorithm using soft three axis tactile sensor: Evaluation of the algorithm, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2015), pp.2093 – 2098, 2015; DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319704.

H. Xie, H. Liu, Y. Noh, J. Li, S. Wang, K. Althoefer, A Fiber-Optics based Body Contact Sensor for a Flexible Manipulator, IEEE Sensors Journal, 15(6), 7010881, pp. 3543-3550, 2015; DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2015.2392384.

Y. Noh, E.L. Secco, S. Sareh, H.A. Wurdemann, H. Liu, K. Althoefer, A continuum body force sensor designed for flexible surgical robotic devices, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2014), pp.3711 – 3714, 2014; DOI:10.1109/EMBC.2014.6944429

A. Faragasso, A. Stilli, J. Bimbo, Y. Noh, H. Liu, T. Nanayakkara, P. Dasupta, H.A. Wurdemann, K. Althoefer, Add-on stiffness probe for real-time soft surface characterisation in MIS, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2014), pp.6517 – 6520, 2014; DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2014.6945121.

Y. Noh, S. Sareh, J. Back, H.A. Wurdemann, T. Ranzani, E.L. Secco, A. Faragasso, H. Liu, K. Althoefer, Three-axial body force sensor for flexible manipulators, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2014), pp.6388 – 6393, 2014.

Y. Noh, A. Shimomura, M. Segawa H. Ishii, J. Solis, K. Hatake, A. Takanishi, Development of Tension/Compression Detection Sensor System Designed to Acquire Quantitative Force Information while Training the Airway management, IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2009), pp.1264 – 1269, 2009.

Awards

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Digital Manufacturing - Being at the forefront of solutions for building smart machines, we create an operational framework for the digital transformation to Industry 4.0.

Robotics and Automation - We carry out world-class research in robotics and autonomous systems, exploiting and exploring opportunities to develop innovative solutions for industrial and societal applications.

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Project last modified 10/09/2021