Applying a "somatic alphabet" approach to inferring orientation, motion, and direction in clusters of force sensing resistors

A fully "sensitive skin" can be thought of as the ultimate goal for the application of somatic sensors. This paper describes further work in the creation of a "somatic alphabet" for humanoid robotics. Populations of individual force sensing resistors are combined into receptive fields. This paper details the algorithms used to infer direction of motion of the centroid of a stimulus as well as orientation.

I. Introduction

The sense of touch is the largest sensory system in the human body and is also the first to develop [1]. Among the many uses of touch is the ability to manipulate objects, to explore our environment, and to protect ourselves from harm. Clearly such a sensory system is necessary for robotics as well. But how should it be implemented?