Skin Spatial Calibration Using Force/Torque Measurements

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the position of tactile elements (i.e. taxels) that are mounted on a robot body part. This problem arises with the adoption of tactile systems with a large number of sensors, and it is particularly critical in those cases in which the system is made of flexible material that is deployed on a curved surface. In this scenario the location of each taxel is partially unknown and difficult to determine manually. Placing the device is in fact an inaccurate procedure that is affected by displacements in both position and orientation. Our approach is based on the idea that it is possible to automatically infer the position of the taxels by measuring the interaction forces exchanged between the sensorized part and the environment. The location of the contact is estimated through force/torque (FIT) measures gathered by a sensor mounted on the kinematic chain of the robot. Our method requires few hypotheses and can be effectively implemented on a real platform, as demonstrated by the experiments with the iCub humanoid robot.