PIEZOELECTRIC AND PYROELECTRIC TRANSIENT SIGNAL ANALYSIS FOR DETECTION OF THE TEMPERATURE OF A CONTACT OBJECT FOR ROBOTIC TACTILE SENSING

This paper reports on the transients which occur when a probe at vario us forces and with various temperatures is applied on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensing film. It is shown that different characterist ics are displayed in the transients which depend on both temperature o f the probe and applied force by the probe. It is thus shown that doub le-layered tactile sensors are not necessary for distinguishing piezoe lectric and pyroelectric signals from the sensed object. In this study it is also shown that a radiant energy source gives rise to a differe nt transient from that for a contacting heat source. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.