Robomantic - Tactile Sensors for Humans and Robots

Ego tango, ergo sum -> I feel, thus I am. This tenor brought the development of tactile sensitive devices within CITEC Bielefeld University to the next stage -> in terms of making the technology of skin-like touch sensors available to a wider public. With project funding by the EU and the state NRW - ERDF (EFRE), our team investigate in three development areas 1. Hardware, 2. Software and 3. Business, elaborating the basis for a stable university spin-off.

1. Within the hardware sub-goal, our individually tested manufacturing processes to build elastic tactile sensors are to be harmonized into one production line.

Hardware progress: The systematic further development of our processes for manufacturing tactile sensors was strongly supported in the ERDF (EFRE) project with new simulation and rapid manufacturing facilities.
An object carriage was designed for holding the materials that are to be processed.
It’s dimensions are the optimum between output minimum and machinery maximum. We gained a ratio of 1/6 for the batch-width to the material infeed width. This will allow a scaling up or times six for a medium size sensor fabrication with an infeed bandwidth of the 1400mm standard width.
We designed special jigs to homogeneously stretch and stack the materials in order to reveal a consistently high quality sensor-sheet.

2. Sub-goal is the integrative optimization of our software packages for an intuitive usability of its features.

Software progress: In the area of software development, the interim goal of quick SW-installation was achieved. This enables the clients to install the Robot Operating System (ROS) with the necessary extensions to drive tactile devices in just a few steps. In the past, this took 1-3 hours, but now it takes just 5-15 minutes to complete and run the full environment.

3. The comprehensive planning of the market entry from process cost optimization to the preparation of the business registration is the last sub-goal.

Business progress: The market analysis shows various positive developments for the project Robomantic.
The number of robotic assistance systems (cobots) and prostheses is steadily increasing. We were able to determine that the customer benefits we evaluated with our products – µGlove, Artificial-Skin and Tactile-Units – can bring urgently needed safety to the systems. In this context, the necessary quality of robotic grippers and prostheses is only achieved through tactile feedback.
Another recent market development shows various companies with quadrupeds (four-legged robots) in their product range as well as the announcements of humanoid robots. These are in urgent need of a sensory skin to prevent damage to themselves and their environment.
Furthermore, the ergonomics, research, sports and leisure markets were analyzed and their stable development in recent years was documented

Pleas find more information on our dedicated project webside Robomantic.de

Related People

Büscher, GereonSupervisor

Bruns, JaninaContact

Walck, GuillaumePhD