Force localization estimation using a designed soft tactile sensor

Wearable tactile sensors are significant in biomedical robotic applications where force feedback is important. In this work, a soft tactile sensor is proposed for force localization. The tactile sensor was manufactured by using layer-by-layer technique that enables flexibility. The sensor has 9 lead zirconate titanate (PZT) elements placed in 3 × 3 matrix form which are 4 × 4 mm² and the spatial resolution is 3 mm. The voltage values gathered from the sensor were conditioned by a charge amplifier circuit. A human inspired machine learning procedure called Neural Networks was used for force localization. The success rates with respect to different network structures were presented and the maximum success was realized as 80.71%.