Robots operating in dynamic and shared environments benefit from anticipating contact before it occurs. We present GenTact-Prox, a fully 3D-printed artificial skin that integrates tactile and proximity sensing for contact detection and anticipation. The artificial skin platform is modular in design, procedurally generated to fit any robot morphology, and can cover the whole body of a robot. The skin achieved detection ranges of up to 18 cm during evaluation. To characterize how robots perceive nearby space through this skin, we introduce a data-driven framework for mapping the Perisensory Space -- the body-centric volume of space around the robot where sensors provide actionable information for contact anticipation. We demonstrate this approach on a Franka Research 3 robot equipped with five GenTact-Prox units, enabling online object-aware operation and contact prediction.

翻译：在动态及共享环境中运行的机器人若能预先感知接触将大为受益。本文提出GenTact-Prox——一种完全3D打印的人造皮肤，集成触觉与近距传感功能，用于接触检测与预判。该人造皮肤平台采用模块化设计，可通过程序化生成适配任意机器人形态，并能覆盖机器人全身。测试评估显示，该皮肤检测距离可达18厘米。为表征机器人通过该皮肤感知周围空间的方式，我们引入了一种数据驱动框架来映射“周边感知空间”——即机器人周围以身体为中心的立体空间区域，其中传感器能为接触预判提供可操作信息。我们通过在配备五个GenTact-Prox单元的Franka Research 3机器人上验证了该方法，实现了在线物体感知操作与接触预测。