@article {2544, title = {ThimbleSense: a fingertip-wearable tactile sensor for grasp analysis}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {9}, year = {2016}, note = {
This work was partially supported by the European Community funded projects WEARHAP, PACMAN and SOMA (contracts 601165, 600918 and 645599 respectively), by the ERC Advanced Grant no. 291166 SoftHands
}, month = {03/2016}, pages = {121-133}, abstract = {

Accurate measurement of contact forces between hand and grasped objects is crucial to study sensorimotor control during grasp and manipulation. In this work we introduce ThimbleSense, a prototype of individual-digit wearable force/torque sensor based on the principle of intrinsic tactile sensing. By exploiting the integration of this approach with an active marker-based motion capture system, the proposed device simultaneously measures absolute position and orientation of the fingertip, which in turn yields measurements of contacts and force components expressed in a global reference frame. The main advantage of this approach with respect to more conventional solutions is its versatility. Specifically, ThimbleSense can be used to study grasping and manipulation of a wide variety of objects, while still retaining complete force/torque measurements. Nevertheless, validation of the proposed device is a necessary step before it can be used for experimental purposes. In this work we present the results of a series of experiments designed to validate the accuracy of ThimbleSense measurements and evaluate the effects of distortion of tactile afferent inputs caused by the device{\textquoteright}s rigid shells on grasp forces.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1939-1412}, doi = {10.1109/TOH.2015.2482478}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7294702}, author = {E. Battaglia and M. Bianchi and Altobelli, A and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and A. Serio and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2307, title = { Three-digit grasp haptic device with variable contact stiffness for rehabilitation and human grasping studies}, booktitle = {22nd Mediterranean Conference of Control and Automation (MED) 2014 }, year = {2014}, pages = {346 - 350}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Palermo, Italy, 16-19 June 2014 }, abstract = {

This paper describes an haptic system designed to vary the stiffness of three contact points in an independent and controllable fashion, by suitably regulating the inner pressure of three pneumatic tactile displays. At the same time, the contact forces exerted by the user are measured by six degree-of-freedom force sensors placed under each finger. This device might be profitably used in hand rehabilitation and human grasping studies. We report and discuss preliminary results on device validation as well as some illustrative measurement examples.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/MED.2014.6961395}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6961395}, author = {Altobelli, A and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and Baud-Bovy, G and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} }