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360 degree touch sensor

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:05 pm
by kmoorman
Once, I read an article (maybe in Nuts and Bolts, maybe in Servo, maybe in Robot, maybe somewhere else :-( ) that described a touch sensor that worked in 360 degrees. It was a ring made up of several materials. When any spot on the ring was pressed, it was possible to read a physical value (voltage? current? resistance?) and calculate where the "touch" occurred; I believe that value returned was based on the linear distance to the point of contact. So, one sensor that gave a complete coverage for bump detection.

Clearly, from my somewhat spotty description :-) there are gaps in my memory. I have scoured my backissues to no avail. Can anyone point me to the article or give me a better description of how this works?

thanks,
kenny