A tactile sensor is developed with the aim of covering a robot’s entire structure, while reducing wiring requirement and ensuring high-speed response. The sensor detects the center point of load distribution on 2-dimensional surfaces as well as the overall load. There are only 4 signal wires from the sensor. The sensor response time is nearly constant (within 1ms) regardless of the number of detection elements, their placements or sensor areas. In this paper, the principles behind the operation of this sensor and the results of experiments using the sensor are described. Further, a developed tactile element composed of pressure-sensitive materials and chip-resistors is described.

A sensor attached to the sole of the foot of a biped robot to detect a zero moment point (ZMP) is proposed and basic experimental results are presented. The sensor simultaneously detects the center position of a two-dimensional distributed load on the surface of the sensor and the total load of the distribution. The sensor is sheet-like in form, lightweight (0.2 g/cm2), offers a high-speed response (within 1 ms), and needs a little wiring (four wires). In the present paper, the principle of the above-described sensor and its characteristics are described, and the ZMP locus is shown for a walking biped robot with the attached sensors