This research is an Engineering Initiation Award that aims at the design, construction, and testing of a first- generation smart tactile sensor. The current limitations on these sensors are more in the area of signal processing than transducer production technology. Analog signal processing offers advantages in speed, simplicity, and accuracy when compared to digital signal processing. This research focuses on the development of analog signal processing circuitry for smart tactile sensors. The first generation smart tactile sensors proposed will have continuous-time outputs of the total force applied to the array and the location and extent of the contact area.
