Tactile sensor arrangement and corresponding sensory system

摘要

A sensory system for a robot comprises a plurality of tactile sensor arrangements (10), each of which includes a flexible planar substrate (12) adapted to form the coating of a robot body, carrying a plurality of pressure sensing devices (14), and an associated signal acquisition microcircuit (16), so arranged as to acquire electrical signals indicative of the contact with an external object (O) or environment from the plurality of sensing devices (14). The microcircuit (16) faces a serial communication bus (B) shared by a plurality of associated arrangements, so as to provide the signals acquired by the plurality of arrangements to an external microcontroller processing unit (40). The sensor arrangement comprises a single input connection port (18′) of the communication bus, and at least one output connection port (18′) of the communication bus, adapted to define a branched path of the bus (B) through said plurality of associated arrangements.

主权项

1. A tactile sensor module, comprising:
a flexible planar substrate having (i) outer edges defining an area of a shape, (ii) a first surface having the area of the shape, and (iii) a second surface having the area of the shape and positioned on an opposite side of the flexible planar substrate from the first surface, the flexible planar substrate configured to form a coating of a curved surface along with other flexible planar substrates of like tactile sensor modules so that the coating comprises a plurality of tactile sensor modules; a plurality of pressure sensing devices carried by the flexible planar substrate and arranged on the first surface completely within the area of the shape; signal acquisition components, comprising a microcircuit arranged on the second surface of the flexible planar substrate and arranged completely within the area of the shape, the microcircuit configured to acquire electrical signals indicative of a contact with an external object or environment from said plurality of pressure sensing devices; a single input connection port arranged on the flexible planar substrate; and a plurality of output connection ports arranged on the flexible planar substrate; wherein the plurality of output connection ports and the single input connection port are configured to define a branched path of a serial communication bus through said plurality of tactile sensor modules; and wherein said signal acquisition components face the serial communication bus so as to provide the electrical signals acquired by said microcircuit to an external microcontroller processing unit.