Smart readout design for tactile sensing devices

This article discusses the electronic readout design for tactile sensing transducers based on POSFETs (Piezoelectric Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors). The design approach, the proposed electronic architecture and the experimental results for validating the proof of concept are presented. This readout features a reduced number of circuits and is implemented with off-the-shelf electronic components. The design takes into account the application related requirements as well as the constraints posed by existing hardware on the humanoid robot 'iCub' [1]. © 2011 IEEE.