Luminescent Tactile Sensor System for Robots: Enhancing Human–Computer Interaction in Complex Dark Environments

In order to achieve interaction and collaboration with humans, robots need to have the ability for tactile perception of simulating human. Traditional methods use electrically connected sensors with complex arrays, leading to intricate wiring, high manufacturing costs, and demanding current environments. A flexible sensor with simple structure, easy preparation process, and low cost based on triboluminescence effect is proposed in this paper, which avoids the complex array and wiring of traditional sensors. The study discusses the relationship between luminescent intensity and factors such as luminescent particle content, luminescent layer thickness, encapsulation layer thickness, and friction layer thickness. It also analyzes the mechanism of luminescence. A micro charge-coupled device is configured for the luminescent unit to collect optical information and is integrated with the robot's manipulator for testing. A simple sensing system is constructed to demonstrate environmental perception, acquiring, and feeding back shape and size information of contact objects in the dark. The system successfully identifies and judges target objects in complex dark environments, offering insights for applications such as unmanned assembly lines. It overcomes the challenge of intricate electrical connections, paving new avenues for intelligent object recognition research in human–computer interaction.