Background
Haptic receptors are essential for biological perception of external environmental stimuli. However, integrating tactile sensors into a soft body robot is challenging. This is because conventional rigid tactile sensors can negatively impact the flexibility and compliance of soft robots, and existing soft sensors are either difficult to manufacture or slow to respond.
The inherent flexibility and compliance of a soft body robot allows its shape to bend and stretch to accommodate complex environments and to achieve motion in a continuous manner to manipulate objects. However, compliance is a disadvantage for modeling soft manipulators because their kinematics and dynamics are different from rigid manipulators. In addition, the haptic sensation of a soft body robot helps to estimate the environment, such as surface non-uniformity and the location of edges and corners, and also to transmit and utilize external stimuli (e.g., contact forces) for accurate modeling and control. However, conventional tactile sensors (e.g., metal strain gauges, array-based force sensors, optical tactile sensors, and underwater acoustic pressure sensors) typically have rigid materials that, if integrated into a soft robotic body, can affect the stiffness of the soft robotic body. Therefore, designing and manufacturing flexible tactile sensor arrays embedded in soft robots remains challenging.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the defects and improvement requirements of the prior art, the invention provides a flexible touch sensor based on light attenuation, an array and a preparation method thereof, aiming at maintaining the compliance of a soft robot, quickly responding to environmental stimulus, quickly sensing the contact force of the surrounding environment, solving the problem that the soft robot lacks touch induction, and realizing accurate model and control.
To achieve the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensor including: the device comprises a laser light source, a first optical fiber, a flexible dome, a second optical fiber, a photoelectric sensor and a flexible optical fiber coupler; the flexible dome is arranged on the flexible optical fiber coupler, the flexible optical fiber coupler is adhered to the surface of the soft object, and a through hole aligned with the top of the flexible dome is arranged in the flexible optical fiber coupler; one end of the first optical fiber is connected with the laser light source, one end of the second optical fiber is connected with the photoelectric sensor, and the other ends of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber penetrate through the through hole in parallel; laser generated by the laser light source reaches the flexible dome after being transmitted by the first optical fiber, is reflected by the flexible dome, enters the second optical fiber and is transmitted to the photoelectric sensor by the second optical fiber; the photoelectric sensor is used for calculating the light intensity of the received laser, and the light intensity is determined by the force borne on the surface of the soft object.
Furthermore, each of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber comprises a part which penetrates through the soft object and reaches the through hole and a part which is arranged outside the soft object.
Still further, still include: and the elastic body rubber tube is arranged inside the soft object and sleeved outside the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber.
Still further, still include: and the two elastomer sheaths are respectively sleeved on the outer sides of the parts, positioned outside the soft object, of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber.
Furthermore, the material of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber is PMMA plastic optical fiber.
Still further, the material of the flexible dome is a silicone elastomer.
Further, the light intensity is a photocurrent intensity which is:
wherein I is the photocurrent intensity, M is the radiant flux of the first optical fiber, P0For the effective output power of the first optical fiber, T is the penetration rate of laser passing through the section of the second optical fiber, lambda is the wavelength of the laser, alpha is the reflectivity of the flexible dome to the laser, d is the distance between the flexible dome and the section of the other end of the first optical fiber, and theta is the second optical fiberThe scattering angle of an optical fiber, A is the cross-sectional area of the second optical fiber, and R (lambda) is the responsivity of the photoelectric sensor to laser light with the wavelength lambda.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensor array comprising N × M light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensors as described above, N and M being positive integers, and N × M > 1.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing the light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensor as described above, including: s1, respectively preparing a flexible dome and a flexible optical fiber coupler by utilizing a layered casting process, and connecting the flexible dome to the flexible optical fiber coupler; s2, placing the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber into the through hole of the flexible optical fiber coupler, and leading out after penetrating through the inside of the soft object; s3, adhering the flexible optical fiber coupler on the surface of the soft object; and S4, connecting the leading-out end of the first optical fiber to a laser light source, and connecting the leading-out end of the second optical fiber to a photoelectric sensor.
Further, in operation S1, the flexible dome is manufactured by using silicone with hardness of shore D00-20, and the flexible optical fiber coupler is manufactured by using silicone with hardness of shore D00-50.
Generally, by the above technical solution conceived by the present invention, the following beneficial effects can be obtained:
(1) the flexible dome is arranged on the surface of the soft object, when the soft object is stressed, the distance between the soft object and the flexible dome is changed, the stress of the soft object is calculated based on the arranged light path, the compliance of the soft robot can be kept, the environmental stimulus can be quickly responded, the contact force of the surrounding environment can be quickly sensed, and the problem that the soft robot lacks touch sensing is solved;
(2) the sensor is made of soft materials and is integrated into the soft robot body, so that the rigidity of the soft robot is not influenced;
(3) elastic protective bodies are respectively nested in the optical fibers inside and outside the soft robot to protect the optical fibers, so that the service life of the sensor is prolonged.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.
In the present application, the terms "first," "second," and the like (if any) in the description and the drawings are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible tactile sensor based on light attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 1, a detailed description of the light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensor according to the present embodiment is provided with reference to fig. 2.
The flexible tactile sensor based on light attenuation comprises a laser light source 1, a first optical fiber 2, a flexible dome 3, a second optical fiber 4, a photoelectric sensor 5 and a flexible optical fiber coupler 6. The flexible dome 3 is arranged on a flexible optical fiber coupler 6, the flexible optical fiber coupler 6 is adhered to the surface of a soft object, a through hole 61 aligned with the top of the flexible dome 3 is arranged in the flexible optical fiber coupler 6, and the soft object is a manipulator of a soft robot. One end of the first optical fiber 2 is connected with the laser light source 1, one end of the second optical fiber 4 is connected with the photoelectric sensor 5, and the other ends of the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 are parallelly passed through the through hole 61, so that the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 are aligned with the top of the flexible dome 3. The flexible fibre coupler 6 may secure the first 2 and second 4 fibres so that their ends remain parallel. The laser light source 1 is used for generating laser light, for example, for generating red laser light.
Laser generated by the laser source 1 is transmitted through the first optical fiber 2, then is transmitted out of the surface of the soft object and is further transmitted to the flexible dome 3, the flexible dome 3 reflects the received laser, the reflected laser enters the second optical fiber 4, and the second optical fiber 4 transmits the received laser to the photoelectric sensor 5; the photoelectric sensor 5 is used to calculate the light intensity of the received laser light, which is determined by the force on the surface of the soft object. Specifically, the photoelectric sensor 5 sends the sensed light intensity to a computer, for example, and the computer calculates the distance between the top of the flexible dome 3 and the surface of the soft object according to the light intensity of the received laser light and calculates the force borne on the surface of the soft object according to the obtained distance.
In the embodiment of the invention, the flexible dome 3 is made of a silicone elastomer and has high deformability and flexibility. The elastic body is a material that can be restored to its original shape after the external force is removed. It will be appreciated that the flexible dome 3 may be in the shape of a hemispherical dome or a top structure in the shape of a semi-ellipsoid or a cube, the edge of the bottom opening of the flexible dome 3 being for example adhered to a flexible fiber coupler 6, the flexible fiber coupler 6 being adhered to the surface of the soft object, whereby the flexible dome 3 is at a distance from the surface of the soft object.
In the embodiment of the present invention, each of the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 includes a portion that passes through the inside of the soft object and reaches the through hole 61, and a portion that is disposed outside the soft object.
Further, the light attenuation based flexible tactile sensor further comprises an elastomeric rubber tube 7 and two elastomeric sheaths 8. The elastomer rubber tube 7 is arranged in the soft object and sleeved outside the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 to protect the optical fibers in the soft object. Specifically, the elastic rubber tube 7 can be embedded in the soft object (for example, flexible skin) manufacturing process, and the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 can penetrate through the elastic rubber tube 7 to be embedded in the soft object and be led out from the side surface of the soft object to be respectively connected with the laser light source 1 and the photoelectric sensor 5. The two elastomer sheaths 8 are respectively sleeved outside the portions of the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 which are positioned outside the soft object, so as to respectively protect each optical fiber outside the soft object.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the material of the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plastic optical fiber. Thereby, a flexible tactile sensor without any hard portion can be completely manufactured.
Referring to fig. 2, the laser light source 1 emits, for example, red laser light with a laser wavelength λ; the laser is transmitted to the top of the flexible optical fiber coupler 6 through the first optical fiber 2, the radiant flux of the first optical fiber 2 is M, and the effective output power is P0The scattering angle is theta; the laser output from the first optical fiber 2 will irradiate on the top surface of the flexible dome 3, and the distance between the flexible dome 3 and the cross section of the first optical fiber 2 is d, which is the first distance; the laser reaches the end of the second optical fiber 4 after being reflected by the flexible dome 3, the reflectivity of the flexible dome 3 to the laser with the wavelength of lambda is alpha, the penetration rate of the laser through the section of the second optical fiber 4 is T, the sectional area of the second optical fiber 4 is A, the second optical fiber 4 transmits the received laser to the photoelectric sensor 5, the responsivity of the laser with the wavelength of lambda of the photoelectric sensor 5 is R (lambda), and therefore the photocurrent intensity I obtained after the photoelectric sensor 5 processes is as follows:
the flexible dome 3 is adhered on the surface of the soft object through the flexible optical fiber coupler 6, when an external force is applied on the flexible tactile sensor, the flexible dome 3 is deformed, and the distance d between the top of the flexible dome 3 and the surface of the soft object is changed, for example, the distance d is changed from d1Is changed into d2The light intensity entering the second optical fiber 4 changes, that is, the photoelectric sensor 5 detects the light intensity change, so that the external computer calculates the distance d according to the light intensity change, and calculates the contact force change borne on the surface of the soft object according to the distance d.
FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a light attenuation based flexible tactile sensor array according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3, the light attenuation-based flexible tactile sensor array includes N × M flexible tactile sensors based on light attenuation as in the embodiments shown in fig. 1-2, where N × M > 1, and N and M are positive integers. The N M flexible touch sensors are independent from each other and can respectively sense the contact force born by each part of the flexible robot. The sensor array can obtain the size and shape information of the environmental object, and the environmental perception function is realized.
Embodiments of the present invention also provide a method for manufacturing a flexible tactile sensor based on light attenuation as shown in the embodiments of fig. 1 to 2, the method including operation S1-operation S3.
In operation S1, the flexible dome 3 and the flexible fiber coupler 6 are separately prepared by using a layered casting process, and the flexible dome 3 is attached to the flexible fiber coupler 6.
The first lower layer mold 401 and the first upper layer mold 402 are used in the preparation process of the flexible dome 3, and as shown in fig. 4, the first lower layer mold 401 and the first upper layer mold 402 are manufactured using 3D printing. The second lower mold 501, the second upper mold 502 and the metal post 503 are used in the manufacturing process of the flexible fiber coupler 6, as shown in fig. 5, the second lower mold 501 and the second upper mold 502 are manufactured by 3D printing.
The flexible skin is made of silicone with a hardness of shore D00-00, and in order to match the flexible tactile sensor with the rigidity of the flexible skin, in operation S1, the flexible dome 3 is made of silicone with a hardness of shore D00-20, and the flexible fiber coupler 6 is made of silicone with a hardness of shore D00-50.
Specifically, when the flexible dome 3 is prepared, uncured silicone is injected into the first lower layer mold 401, then the first upper layer mold 402 is placed on the uncured silicone, the silicone is placed for a period of time to wait for curing of the silicone, the silicone dome completely cured between the two molds is the required flexible dome 3, and the cured flexible dome 3 is taken out.
When the flexible optical fiber coupler 6 is prepared, the metal column 503 is inserted into the hole of the second lower layer mold 501, uncured organic silicon is injected into the second lower layer mold 501, finally the second upper layer mold 502 is placed on the uncured organic silicon, the organic silicon is placed for a period of time to wait for curing, the completely cured organic silicon material between the two molds is the required flexible optical fiber coupler 6, and the cured flexible optical fiber coupler 6 is taken out. After preparation is complete, the flexible dome 3 and the flexible fiber coupler 6 are connected together, for example, using a silicone-specific glue.
In operation S2, the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 are placed in the through hole 61 of the flexible fiber coupler 6 and are led out after passing through the inside of the soft object.
Specifically, an elastomer rubber tube 7 is embedded in the process of manufacturing the flexible skin, the first optical fiber 2 and the second optical fiber 4 sequentially penetrate through the through hole 61 and the elastomer rubber tube 7 and then are embedded in the soft object, the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are led out from the side face of the soft object to be respectively connected with the laser light source 1 and the photoelectric sensor 5, and the outer sides of the led first optical fiber 2 and the led second optical fiber 4 can be respectively sleeved with an elastomer sheath 8.
In operation S3, the flexible fiber optic coupler 6 is adhered to the soft object surface. Furthermore, the preparation method can be used for adhering the N x M flexible optical fiber couplers 6 to the surface of a soft object, so that a flexible touch sensor array is formed, and the sensing function of the environment is realized.
In operation S4, the pigtail of the first optical fiber 2 is connected to the laser light source 1, and the pigtail of the second optical fiber 4 is connected to the photosensor 5.
In this embodiment, the structure of the flexible tactile sensor based on light attenuation manufactured by the manufacturing method is the same as that of the flexible tactile sensor based on light attenuation in the embodiment shown in fig. 1 to 2, and details are not repeated here.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the invention, and that any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.