Wrin’Tac: Tactile Sensing System With Wrinkle's Morphological Change

This paper describes an active tactile sensing system that selects sensing modalities based on specific sensing tasks, by changing its morphology, called Wrin'Tac. This paper was inspired by the human finger wet-induced wrinkle, which is usually observed when one soaks in warm water for a period, and has been indicated as an efficient transformation for enhancement of gripping stability in a wet environment. We proposed a device which is an integration of actuation (pneumatic actuator) and sensing elements (strain gauges) inside a thin, multilayered substrate. Under pressurization, the morphology of the substrate surface (both geometrical and mechanical characteristics) change with appearance of wrinkles. Especially, by formation of wrinkles, this device can change its shape so that the posture of embedded sensing elements (strain gauges) can vary and generate different responses depending on external load conditions. As a result, this device can actively select its sensing functions depending on specific sensing tasks. First, we created a model to investigate the dynamic changes in a strain gauges' mechanical response under formation of wrinkles. Then, a prototype of this sensing device and its fabrication process were proposed to accomplish sensing tasks under vertical indentation and horizontal sliding action on its surface by using one type of strain gauge. This paper is an example of soft morphological control in tactile sensing, and is expected to open a new avenue to development of tactile sensing systems.