High-Speed Catching of a Paper Balloon using High-Performance Proximity Sensor

We developed a fingertip-size, high-performance proximity sensor for high-speed and super soft-touch catching.
The proximity sensor detects the distance to and the tilt angle of the surface of an object with a resolution more than 20-times higher (50micromillimeters) and a measuring time less than 1/10-th (1ms) those of existing sensors.
The high-speed, high-precision sensing enables accurate position control of the finger and the contact detection independently of the contact force. Conventionally, contact between a tactile sensor and an object is defined as the sensor output (contact force or pressure value) exceeding a threshold value. With this approach, however, in high-speed grasping, robot hands tend to break or damage fragile objects whose reaction force is extremely small. In our approach on the other hand, we define contact as zero distance to the object. The hand was able to catch the paper balloon with a deformation equal to or less than that achievable by a human performing the same catching task.
ishikawa-vision.org/fusion/pro...

[@SQUiB.]

this is amazing. i cant wait to see more developments as time goes on. amazing stuff guys, keep it up.

[@KarthikBhatl]

What are the use cases of this ? Where exactly do you think this would be useful ?

[@markifi]

What are the aspects of this technology that make it a rarity, as opposed to wide-spread? Is it expensive to set up?

[@LowLightVideos]

feather/rice paper, incandescent light bulb, uncooked chicken egg, inside aquarium full of mosquitos (catch one alive), ...

[@MrOserios]

Cool O.o