Surface-based Manipulation Using Tunable Compliant Porous-Elastic Soft Sensing

2026-02-24

AI Summary

Existing surface operating systems struggle to simultaneously achieve mechanical compliance and tactile perception for fragile or diverse objects. This work proposes a tunable porous elastomeric soft sensing (COPESS) surface integrated with inductive sensors, which enables concurrent optimization of mechanical compliance and local sensing performance through a single design parameter—lattice density. By varying the lattice density from 7% to 20%, the system demonstrates an approximately 23-fold increase in sensitivity and a 9-fold expansion in operational force range. This co-optimization significantly enhances passive self-adaptive manipulation capability and precision across objects of varying material properties, marking the first demonstration of unified design for both compliance and perception in soft robotic surfaces.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Search and Optimization: Sampling/Simulation-based Search
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Constraint Optimization

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

There is a growing need for soft robotic platforms that perform gentle, precise handling of a wide variety of objects. Existing surface-based manipulation systems, however, lack the compliance and tactile feedback needed for delicate handling. This work introduces the COmpliant Porous-Elastic Soft Sensing (COPESS) integrated with inductive sensors for adaptive object manipulation and localised sensing. The design features a tunable lattice layer that simultaneously modulates mechanical compliance and sensing performance. By adjusting lattice geometry, both stiffness and sensor response can be tailored to handle objects with varying mechanical properties. Experiments demonstrate that by easily adjusting one parameter, the lattice density, from 7 % to 20 %, it is possible to significantly alter the sensitivity and operational force range (about -23x and 9x, respectively). This approach establishes a blueprint for creating adaptive, sensorized surfaces where mechanical and sensory properties are co-optimized, enabling passive, yet programmable, delicate manipulation.

Problem

• soft robotics
• surface-based manipulation
• compliance
• tactile feedback
• delicate handling

Innovation

• soft robotics
• compliant sensing
• tunable lattice
• porous-elastic material
• inductive sensing