Uskin Uskin 多轴力和扭矩传感器

Uskin 皮肤触觉传感器的3轴力传感器阵列，用于实现机器手和夹爪的触觉感知。XELA触觉感应阵列，具有小巧、轻薄、柔软、耐用，布线少等优点。Uskin传感器阵列具有1×1、2×1、2×2、4×4、4×6多种规格。同时支持外形定制。

主要特点  

   
1、数字输出

提供数字输出，只需要几根细线，不需额外模数转换器。提供更快、更精确的测量，同时将电噪声和干扰降至最低。

2、柔软耐用

这是一种柔软传感器，能够处理易碎物体而不会损坏它们。不同尺寸、形状、硬度和重量的物体可以可靠地抓握和操作。柔软性还可确保传感器对过载具有高度的弹性，使其非常耐用。

3、易于集成

XELA提供触觉皮肤传感器，可轻松集成，以简单地粘附或连接方式进行安装。

XELA Robotics provides the human sense of touch to robots. By producing patches with integrated sensors capable of sensing 3 axis in each and every sensor included in the skin patch. These patches can be integrated easily into both new and existing robotics thanks to the small size and few attached wires. With our solution the robotic application, such as grippers and robotic hands, can easily sense what they are gripping or holding. This will give them the sense of touch similar to that of a human hand when manipulating objects.

Allegro Hand Integration with Curved Fingertips
Integrating uSkin regular sensors and uSkin Curved onto the Allegro Hand provides you with 
368 3-axis measurements.
The curved fingertips ensure a natural interation with the grasped object, making it possible 
for robots to perform actions as we humans do with our hands.

FEATURES OF ALLEGRO HAND by WONIK Robotics
Lightweight and portable anthropomorphic design 
Low-cost dexterous manipulation
Capable of handling a variety of object geometries
Capable of holding up to 5 kg
16 independent torque-controlled joints, 4 joints i n each finger

DIGITAL OUTPUT 

The digital output provides you with faster, more accurate 

measurements with minimal electric noise and interference. 

In addition, due to the digital output, only 4 wires are required to 

collect all the tactile information. 

SOFT & DURABLE 

uSkin is a soft sensor capable of handling fragile objects without 

damaging them. Objects of different size, shape, hardness, and 

weight can be grasped and manipulated reliably. 

The softness of uSkin also ensures that the sensor is highly 

resilient to overloading, making uSkin very durable.

Introducing Our Newest Model

We provide high-density 3-axis tactile sensing, making it possible to 

measure a 3-axis movement, providing you with a precise, sensitive, 

and overall more reliable tactile data collection. 

Our newest uSkin model is: uSkin Curved. 

This tactile sensor has 30 individual taxels that can measure 3D 

displacement individually. The soft, durable, and curved design allows 

for more natural interaction with the object. 

FEATURES

Type: Tri-axial Curved Tactile Sensor Module 

Taxels: 30 

Soft Skin 

Fingertip Design

INTEGRATION SERVICE 

The uSkin sensors can be integrated into both new and existing 

robots. 

In addition to providing the tactile sensors, XELA Robotics also 

specializes in integrating them into various robot hand and 

gripper applications.

HIGH DENSITY 3-AXIS MEASUREMENTS

Each taxel in uSkin sensor mimics a joystick, measuring 

X, Y and Z force: 

• 

Shear forces tangential to the surface 

• 

Normal force perpendicular to the surface 

Providing you with a more detailed and accurate data 

collection.

Tactile Sensor (XR1944) - Instruction Manual 

July 2020 

1 General Limitations for using the Sensors 

• Applying too high forces or pressures will destroy the sensor module and will void the warranty. 

Never apply more than 3 N z-axis force (force applied perpendicular to the sensor’s surface) to one 

sensor cell (the XR1922 has 4 sensor cells, for example). Regarding x-axis and y-axis, the sum of 

the shear forces has to stay below 15 kPa. These values are higher than the measurement range of the 

sensor (given in the datasheet), as the sensor can be overloaded. 

Furthermore, apply forces only to the sensor surface, not to the sides of the sensor module. 

• As a skin sensor, the contact geometry always inflfluences the measurements. Therefore, we do not 

calibrate the sensors, as any calibration would be valid only for the same contact shape. We suggest 

that you use machine learning techniques or your algorithms to get various information out of the 

sensor measurements, relevant for your application. 

• As our sensor uses magnetic fifield changes induced by the skin deformation as its sensing principle, 

other magnetic fifields (including the earth magnetic fifield), nearby magnets, or nearby ferromagnetic 

materials can inflfluence the sensor measurements. Also crosstalk between two of our sensor mod

ules is possible. Please confifirm within the inspection period (1 month from receipt of the product) 

with your application if those inflfluences are prohibitory for your application. To counteract those 

inflfluences, please also consider that a reference sensor could be used. 

• Never bend the sensor modules. When you install the sensor modules on your robot, glue them to 

a sturdy and flflat surface with thin double-sided sticky tape. Make sure to provide flflat support to the 

whole backside of the sensor module. 

2 Requirements 

To collect data from the sensors, a PC with a USB 2.0 port is required. Both a Windows or Linux PC can be 

used, as described in the "Software Manual". However, for the simple procedure to check if your sensors are 

connected correctly to your PC, as described in this manual, a Windows PC is used. The software described 

in this manual was tested on Windows 7 and Windows 10. 

Our sensors work with various CAN-USB converters, as described on our webpage (https://xelarobotics. 

com/en/canusb-adapters). This manual (in particular Section 4.2 and 5.1) is based on the software for the 

CAN-USB/2 from ESD. The following CAN-USB devices are supported and tested. 

• ESD CAN-USB/2 (bus: esd in Windows or socketcan in Linux) 

• PEAK USB-CAN (bus: pcan, default channel: CAN_USBBUS1, Linux/ROS only) 

• VScom USB-CAN Plus (bus: slcan, Linux/ROS only) 

• CANable and CANable Pro (bus: socketcan, Linux/ROS only, with candlelight fifirmware) (Recom

mended only for advanced users knowing CAN DSUB-9 pinout) 

The software described in the "Software Manual" is based on Python. However, other programming lan

guages can be used both for the server (which reads out the sensor data from the CAN bus) and the client 

(which uses the sensor data). It is straightforward to use other programming languages for the client, as 

they only have to connect to the server. For the server, while we only provide the server in Python, other 

environments can be used, as long as they are compatible with the used CAN-USB converter. For example: 

• ESD provides API for .NET, C#, Python, VC, Visual Basic, BC, LabVIEW, Linux, etc. Please refer 

to ESD website for more information. 

2 ©XELA Robotics• Peak System provides API for C#, Python, C, Visual Basic, Linux, etc. Please refer to PEAK System 

website for more information. 

3 Hardware Introduction 

Figure 1: The connection between Sensor Module, Port-A/B cable, the microncontroller, and their respec

tive SDA numbers and taxel numbers. The measurement axis is also shown here. 

3.1 Sensor Module 

Each Sensor Module has 16 sensing points (taxels) in total. Each taxel measures 3-axis skin deformation. 

The sampling rate is 100 Hz. Each measurement has 16-bit (8 Most Signifificant Bit/ MSB and 8 Least 

Signifificant Bit/ LSB) resolution per axis. Please see Figure.1 for the taxels’ number, their position, and 

their respective SDA . 

3.2 Port-A/B cable 

The Port-A/B cable is used for connecting 2 Sensor Modules to 1 microcontroller. A label at the Port-A/B’s 

end identify which Port a Sensor Module is connected to. Depending on this, the SDA number changes. 

When a Port-A/B cable is not used to connect a Sensor Module to a microcontroller, it will be treated as 

the Sensor Module is connected via Port-A. In other words, the SDA number of the Sensor Module will be 

SDA0 and SDA1. 

3.3 Microcontroller 

The pre-programmed microcontroller is used to start the communication, confifiguring, and collecting the 

data of the Sensor Module. The microcontroller can be connected to the Sensor Module through its 8-pin 

port. In the current version of the Sensor Module, 2 of the module can be connected to one microcontroller 

via the provided Port-A/B cable. 

On the microcontroller, there are two 4-pin ports (VDD, D+, D-, GND). One of those ports is for the 

communication between the microcontroller and the CAN/USB converter. The other one is for a daisy

chain communication between microcontrollers through a CAN protocol. These ports are interchangeable. 

Several microcontrollers with Sensor Modules can be daisy-chained. 

3 ©XELA Robotics3.4 ESD CAN/USB Interface 

3.4 ESD CAN/USB Interface 

This device interfaces a PC with the microcontroller. It is connected to the PC with a serial bus (USB). This 

device was developed by ESD and can be purchased separately from https://esd.eu/en/products/can-usb2. 

The driver is also available from the given link. 

3.5 CAN to DE-9 cable 

This cable connects the microcontroller (4-pin connector) to the ESD CAN/USB converter (DE-9 connec

tor). The 4 pin wires are for transmitting data to the ESD CAN/USB interface. 

4 Setup & Installation 

4.1 Connecting the hardware 

1. Plug the 8-pin wires of one Sensor Module’s into a microcontroller. The Port-A/B cable can be used 

to connect two Sensor Modules to one microcontroller. 

2. Connect the 4-pin connector of the CAN/DE-9 cable to 1 of the 2 4-pin port of the microcontroller. 

3. Connect the DE-9 connector of the CAN/DE-9 cable to the CAN/USB Interface. 

4. Plug the USB cable of the CAN/USB Interface into any of the USB ports of your PC. 

5. Plug the USB power cable of the CAN/DE-9 cable into a PC or USB wall adapter (5V). The power 

indicator (blue LED) of the microcontroller should be on. 

4.2 Driver and Libraries Installation 

4.2.1 ESD CAN/USB driver 

After plugging in the USB cable, open the device manager from the control panel. In the USB section, 

make sure that the device is detected as an unknown device. Right click the unknown device and specify 

the driver location to the CAN USB Driver folder (...\CAN USB Driver). The driver can be downloaded 

4 ©XELA Roboticsfrom the ESD website or can be found inside the installation CD. If it is successful, the unknown device 

should turn into "CAN Interface - CAN USB/2" as in Fig. 3. 

4.2.2 CAN SDK 

Run CAN_SDK.exe from ...\CAN USB driver\CAN_SDK and follow the instructions. This will install the 

ESD CAN/USB libraries and sample programs required for the next step. 

5 Explanation of CAN ID and CAN message 

5.1 CANreal 

Here we use CANreal application provided by ESD to make the explanation easy to understand. Run the 

CANreal application. The application is installed as part of SDK and can be found by default at C:\Program 

Files\ESD\CAN\SDK\bin32\CANreal. Confifigure it as in Fig. 4. 

5 ©XELA Robotics5.2 Incoming CAN ID structure 

Select a detected CAN/USB device by choosing it from the "Net" drop-down menu. If there is nothing that 

can be selected, the device may not be plugged or the driver is not installed properly. Confifigure the "Baud" 

to 1000 then click "Start". A Successful connection will lead to an incoming CAN Message as in Fig. 5. At 

this point, your PC is ready to run our sample code. 

5.2 Incoming CAN ID structure 

Each incoming CAN message comes with its ID. The ID represents the number of microcontroller and the 

taxel of the Sensor Module connecting to that microcontroller. The meaning of the ID is as shown in Table 

• "Microcontroller ID" is pre-defifined. The number can be found on each microcontroller. 

• "SDA number" is defifined from whether Port A or Port B of the Port-A/B cable that the Sensor 

Module is connected to. If a Sensor Module is connected to Port A, the SDA number will be 0 and 1 

depending on the position of the taxel. See Figure 1 for more detail. 

• "Taxel Number" is defifined as in Figure 1. 

Therefore, the incoming CAN IDs of the taxels on the Sensor Module which is connected to the microcon

troller ID1 via Port A, are as follow. 

• SDA 0 Taxel 0 - 3 : 0x001 - 0x031 

• SDA 0 Taxel 4 - 7 : 0x041 - 0x071 

• SDA 1 Taxel 0 - 3 : 0x101 - 0x131 

• SDA 1 Taxel 4 - 7 : 0x141 - 0x171 

For the Sensor Module that is connected via Port B of the same microcontroller ID1, the incoming CAN 

IDs of the taxels are as follow. 

• SDA 2 Taxel 0 - 3 : 0x201 - 0x231 

• SDA 2 Taxel 4 - 7 : 0x241 - 0x271 

• SDA 3 Taxel 0 - 3 : 0x301 - 0x331 

• SDA 3 Taxel 4 - 7 : 0x341 - 0x371 

Note that if a Sensor Module is connected directly to a microcontroller without any Port-A/B cable, it will 

be treated as connecting to Port A. 

5.3 Incoming CAN Message structure 

Each incoming CAN message contain 8-byte data. The data compose of 3-axis components of contact 

measurement. The structure of the data is as follows. 

• 1st byte : Not used 

• 2nd byte : X-axis MSB 

• 3rd byte : X-axis LSB 

• 4th byte : Y-axis MSB 

• 5th byte : Y-axis LSB 

• 6th byte : Z-axis MSB 

• 7th byte : Z-axis LSB 

• 8th byte : Not used 

By combining the MSB and LSB part of each axis, the 16-bit measurement can be acquired.