Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation
Tactile Sensor Systems as User Interfaces
Intuitive Operation
As IT systems become more and more important in our society, innovative approaches for human-machine interaction increasingly gain in importance. In addition to existing interaction technologies such as the mouse, the keyboard or touch screens, touchable interfaces (so-called "tangible user interfaces") can contribute towards making the operation of complex systems more intuitive.
As part of the AVILUS+ project several tangible user interfaces and touch-based control concepts for robots and AR/VR applications were developed using the tactile sensor technology of the Fraunhofer IFF.
Pressure-sensitive surfaces for touch operation of robots
Tactile sensor systems applied as a pressure-sensitive skin to the surface of robots or other moving machine parts can be used for safe collision detection as well as for user interfaces. Apart from the information that contact has occurred, the tactile sensor system delivers additional information about the location of the contact and amount of force applied. The forces acting on the tactile sensor system can be interpreted directly as control pulses and can be used to control movement intuitively without additional technical knowledge and operator panels. This supports novel methods of programming and operation in industrial applications, as well as more intuitive interfaces for human-robot interaction in non-industrial settings.