Tactile sensors: A review

Tactile sensing is increasingly attractive in various real-life applications, mainly driven by significant progress in semiconductor, sensing, and material science technologies. Different sensing techniques were suggested for specific design goals, as none of them can simultaneously feature all the properties of human skin: high spatial–temporal resolution and repeatability, ease of stretch and bend, insensitivity to environmental conditions such as electromagnetic Interference (EMI) noise and temperature variations, portability, and determining the intensity of both normal and shear stresses. This has driven researchers to suggest multimodality tactile sensors to enhance their capabilities. However, the sensing techniques focus mainly on five types: resistive, piezo-resistive, piezoelectric, capacitance, optical fiber, and visible-light cameras. This paper will reveal the most recent research on tactile sensors, including the sensor, front-end electronics, algorithms, and associated hardware accelerators. It also suggests potential design solutions that can enhance their overall performance. Thus, it can be a valuable tool for researchers and engineers involved in related research activities, as tactile sensing is essential for a wide range of applications, from robotics to medical fields and virtual/augmented reality.