A Tactile Skin System for Touch Sensing with Ultrasound Tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Sensor Technology
• Imaging Systems

Background:

• Tomographic imaging offers potential for large-area touch sensing.
• Ultrasonic tomography (UST) is a versatile, portable, and cost-effective imaging technique.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel touch sensor utilizing ultrasonic tomography (UST).
• To demonstrate UST's capability for imaging touch position and force intensity on a tactile skin.
• To explore the potential of UST for large-area, force-sensitive applications.

Main Methods:

• A transmission mode UST system was employed with a prototype sensor array (200 mm diameter, 32 transducers at 40 kHz and 300 kHz).
• The sensor comprised a water region covered by a soft silicone membrane.
• Touch events disrupted sound pathways, enabling imaging via a tomographic UST algorithm.

Main Results:

• Successfully reconstructed eight points of contact on the tactile skin.
• Demonstrated the ability to image touch position and force intensity.
• Static and dynamic experiments confirmed the UST system's functionality.
• Correlation analysis indicated potential for force quantification.

Conclusions:

• Ultrasonic tomography is a viable method for developing advanced tactile skin sensors.
• The developed UST sensor can accurately detect and quantify touch and force.
• This technology holds promise for large-area, sensitive touch applications.