Robot Grasping System and Grasp Stability Prediction Based on Flexible Tactile Sensor Array

• Main Authors: Tong Li, Xuguang Sun, Xin Shu, Chunkai Wang, Yifan Wang, Gang Chen, Ning Xue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Machines
• Subjects: robot grasping system; tactile sensor array; machine learning; grasp stability prediction
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/9/6/119

As an essential perceptual device, the tactile sensor can efficiently improve robot intelligence by providing contact force perception to develop algorithms based on contact force feedback. However, current tactile grasping technology lacks high-performance sensors and high-precision grasping prediction models, which limits its broad application. Herein, an intelligent robot grasping system that combines a highly sensitive tactile sensor array was constructed. A dataset that can reflect the grasping contact force of various objects was set up by multiple grasping operation feedback from a tactile sensor array. The stability state of each grasping operation was also recorded. On this basis, grasp stability prediction models with good performance in grasp state judgment were proposed. By feeding training data into different machine learning algorithms and comparing the judgment results, the best grasp prediction model for different scenes can be obtained. The model was validated to be efficient, and the judgment accuracy was over 98% in grasp stability prediction with limited training data. Further, experiments prove that the real-time contact force input based on the feedback of the tactile sensor array can periodically control robots to realize stable grasping according to the real-time grasping state of the prediction model.