Flexible robots have advantages over rigid robots in their ability to conform physically to their environment and to form a wide variety of shapes. Sensing the force applied by or to flexible robots is useful for both navigation and manipulation tasks, but it is challenging due to the need for the sensors to withstand the robots' shape change without encumbering their functionality. Also, for robots with long or large bodies, the number of sensors required to cover the entire surface area of the robot body can be prohibitive due to high cost and complexity. We present a novel soft air pocket force sensor that is highly flexible, lightweight, relatively inexpensive, and easily scalable to various sizes. Our sensor produces a change in internal pressure that is linear with the applied force. We present results of experimental testing of how uncontrollable factors (contact location and contact area) and controllable factors (initial internal pressure, thickness, size, and number of interior seals) affect the sensitivity. We demonstrate our sensor applied to a vine robot-a soft inflatable robot that "grows" from the tip via eversion-and we show that the robot can successfully grow and steer towards an object with which it senses contact.

翻译：柔性机器人相较于刚性机器人具有能够物理顺应环境并形成多种形状的优势。感知柔性机器人施加或承受的力既有助于导航任务，也有助于操作任务，但这一过程颇具挑战性，因为传感器需要承受机器人的形状变化而不妨碍其功能。此外，对于具有长型或大型机身的机器人，覆盖整个机身表面所需传感器的数量可能因高昂的成本和复杂性而令人望而却步。我们提出一种新颖的软气囊力传感器，该传感器高度灵活、轻量化、相对廉价，且易于扩展至不同尺寸。我们的传感器产生与施加力呈线性关系的内部压力变化。我们展示了关于不可控因素（接触位置和接触面积）与可控因素（初始内部压力、厚度、尺寸及内部密封数量）如何影响灵敏度的实验结果。我们演示了将该传感器应用于藤蔓机器人——一种通过外翻从尖端“生长”的软充气机器人——并表明该机器人能够成功地向感知到接触的物体生长并转向。