On the Use of Commercial Barometric Sensors for Contact Localization in Soft Skins.

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17979/ja-cea.2026.47.13852

Keywords:

Perception and sensing, Information and sensor fusion, Estimation and filtering, Filtering and smoothing, Model validation

Abstract

Soft skins have emerged as a key technology within soft robotics, as they enable systems to be equipped with advanced perception capabilities while simultaneously maintaining safe interaction with the environment. Among the different sensing strategies, the use of barometric sensors integrated into deformable pneumatic chambers stands out due to its low cost, high sensitivity, and ease of integration. This work studies the feasibility of using commercial barometric pressure sensors for the spatial localization of contacts on soft skins. To this end, a spatial reconstruction strategy has been proposed based on the analysis of time differences between the signals recorded by the sensors during contacts. This strategy has been evaluated both on synthetic signals, under different noise conditions, and on experimental signals obtained from a soft hydrogel skin with an internal air chamber and multiple radially distributed sensors.

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Published

2026-09-01

Issue

Section

Robótica