Wireless Sensor for Precision Grasping of Objects and Tools by Robotic Hands

A preliminary study for a novel approach of detecting the orientation of a robotic hand with respect to non-metallic objects is illustrated. This goal is pursued by using a radiofrequency (RF) probe on the robotic hand and a printed resonator on the tagged item. In order to detect the hand orientation with respect to the target, the real part of the probe input impedance is examined for different angular orientations of the resonator placed on the object. The relation relating the oriented angle between the reader and the sensor to the impedance is addressed to define a proper calibration curve. A half wavelength dipole antenna as a probe on the hand and a metal strip (dipole resonator) placed on the object is employed. The sensing is performed within a near range distance from the object. As the result, it is observed that he proposed probe-resonator configuration allows the identification of the relative angular position of the hand with respect to the object with an encouraging level of accuracy.