Fault tolerant tactile sensor arrays for prosthesis

Abstract

The demand for sensor networks has grown significantly over the last decade. These networks operate as a single unit, accumulating information from individual sensor nodes. Due to a matrixlike topology of these arrays, a fault at a single node may affect the performance of neighboring sensors. Therefore, it is critical to detect and compensate faults. In this paper, we propose a fault tolerant algorithm that is capable of detecting and compensating faults independently, without external operator intervention, by exploiting the temporal correlation of sensors. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm was validated by integrating the sensor array with a prosthetic hand used to provide tactile feedback to a controller for slip and grasp management.