Miniature Lightweight, 3D Printable, Optical Dual Contact Force and Temperature Sensor for Dexterous End Effectors

Dexterous robotic manipulation is an essential technology for establishing a permanent, sustainable space infrastructure (NASA's Moon-to-Mars objectives). Given the massive cost of having humans in space, sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, ironically, requires capable non-human labor resources. Crew time is a highly limited resource and robotic operations are an efficient method for assembly and maintenance of in-space assets. Achieving the goal "practice on the Moon, demonstrate on Mars," will require robots to perform the vast majority of the labor. To be effective, dexterous manipulation requires multi-sensory feedback. Current touch sensor technology relies on electronics, which places limits on material properties of an end effector and requires additional circuitry for temperature sensing. Through the proposed work, Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc. (IOS) will develop a novel end effector sensor technology that enables a single sensor to measure both contact force and temperature simultaneously using the same data stream. The sensitive component of the system is simply a polymer with a luminescent dye blended into it, opening the material space available to sensorized end effectors. The materials used for the sensitive component can be 3D printed, enabling direct integration into an end effector using standard multi-material 3D printing techniques. Enabling technologies for general-purpose robots have applications across several NASA Mission Directorates including Space Technology, Exploration Systems, and Science. There is potential in any Mission Directorate where a task could be performed by a robot rather than a human in space. At the conclusion of Phase I, IOS will have prototyped the optical dual contact force and temperature sensor and will deliver a full report on the R&D work, including full characterization of the individual sensors and the prototype dual sensor, as well as analysis of that characterization.

NASA must develop robotic systems to support sustainable operations in space. Given the extreme costs of having humans in space, the Moon-to-Mars objectives effectively require development of robots capable of performing human-like labor tasks off-planet. Enabling technologies for general-purpose robots have applications across several NASA Mission Directorates including Space Technology, Exploration Systems, and Science. There is potential in any Mission Directorate where a task could be performed by a robot rather than a human in space.

Industrial robots are designed for the target application. However, the general-purpose robot market is growing. Sensors that enable greater generalization of robot tasks will be critical for expanding robots from primarily repetitive tasks to robots with human-like labor utility, and with the advent of more and more powerful AI, we may be on the precipice of a robotic labor revolution.

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