The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2023

Filed:

Mar. 22, 2022
Applicant:

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Stanford, CA (US);

Inventors:

Alexander M. Gruebele, Menlo Park, CA (US);

Michael A. Lin, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Mark R. Cutkosky, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Daniel C. Brouwer, Irvine, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01L 19/00 (2006.01); G01L 5/00 (2006.01); B25J 13/08 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01L 19/0023 (2013.01); G01L 5/0061 (2013.01); B25J 13/084 (2013.01);
Abstract

A stretchable sensor skin is provided, which is a soft tactile sensor sleeve that can cover large areas of a robot, and is both low-cost and robust. It is made of elastomer molded pouches (referred to as sensor taxels) that when contacted transmit pneumatic pressure to off-board barometric sensors, via stretchable channels. The entirely soft makeup of the sleeve makes it highly conformable to 3D curved geometries of a robot. The stretchable channels mean that it can cover joints without wiring getting caught. The stretchable rubber channels are also inherently more robust than stretchable conductor approaches, and the skin lacks fragile soft-rigid interfaces that has plagued many other sensor skins. The fact that there are no conductive components also makes the skin easy to sanitize and waterproof.


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