Systems, devices, and methods for contact detection by a robot system

1 . A method of operation of a humanoid robot, the humanoid robot comprising a torso, a head coupled to the torso, a visual sensor carried by the head, a controller, an arm coupled to the torso, and a capacitive touch sensor carried by the arm and positioned at a blind spot of the visual sensor, the capacitive touch sensor communicatively coupled to the controller and the controller comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing a contact response system and processor-executable instructions, the method comprising:

detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, a first contact between the arm of the robot and a human, the first contact resulting from a first motion of the robot, wherein detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, the first contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes determining a capacitance exceeds a predetermined capacitance threshold;

determining, by the controller, whether the capacitive touch sensor is in a field of view of the visual sensor;

determining, by the controller, whether the human is in the field of view of the visual sensor; and

in response to determining that both the capacitive touch sensor and the human are not in the field of view of the visual sensor:

determining, by the controller, the first contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an unexpected contact; and

activating a safety response of the contact response system, wherein the safety response of the contact response system causes

the robot to interrupt the first motion of the robot.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to determining that both the capacitive touch sensor and the human are in the field of view of the visual sensor:

determining, by the controller, the first contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an expected contact; and

allowing, by the contact response system, the robot to proceed uninterrupted with the first motion of the robot.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining, by the controller, the first contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an expected contact includes tracking a trajectory of at least one of the arm of the robot and the human, and determining the arm of the robot and the human are on a course to establish contact with each other unless the first motion of the robot is interrupted.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the capacitive touch sensor is a contact sensor and the detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, a first contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting the arm of the robot and the human have established contact with each other.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the humanoid robot further comprises a proximity sensor and the method further comprises determining a distance between the robot and the human is less than a predetermined proximity threshold.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining, by the controller, the first contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an unexpected contact includes:

tracking a trajectory of at least one of the arm of the robot and the human; and

determining the arm of the robot and the human are on a course to establish contact with each other unless the first motion of the robot is interrupted.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting a first contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting a first contact between the arm of the robot and an area of exposed human skin of the human.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting a first contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting a first contact between the arm of the robot and an area of clothed human skin of the human.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the safety response system that causes the robot to interrupt the first motion of the robot, causes the robot to halt the first motion of the robot.

10 . A method of operation of a humanoid robot, the humanoid robot comprising a torso, a head coupled to the torso, a visual sensor carried by the head, a controller, an arm coupled to the torso, and a capacitive touch sensor carried by the arm and positioned at a blind spot of the visual sensor, the capacitive touch sensor communicatively coupled to the controller and the controller comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, the non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing a contact response system and processor-executable instructions, the method comprising:

detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, a contact between the arm of the robot and a human, the contact resulting from a motion of the robot, wherein detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, the contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes determining a capacitance exceeds a predetermined capacitance threshold;

determining, by the controller, whether the capacitive touch sensor is in a field of view of the visual sensor;

determining, by the controller, whether the human is in the field of view of the visual sensor;

determining, by the controller and based on whether both the capacitive touch sensor and the human are in the field of view of the visual sensor, whether the contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an expected contact or an unexpected contact;

in response to determining, by the controller, the contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an expected contact, allowing, by the contact response system, the robot to proceed uninterrupted with the motion of the robot; and

in response to determining, by the controller, the contact between the robot and the human is an unexpected contact, causing, by the contact response system, the robot to interrupt the motion of the robot.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the capacitive touch sensor is a contact sensor and the detecting, by the capacitive touch sensor, a contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting the arm of the robot and the human have established contact with each other.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the humanoid robot further comprises a proximity sensor and the method further comprises determining a distance between the robot and the human is less than a predetermined proximity threshold.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the determining, by the controller and based on whether both the capacitive touch sensor and the human are in the field of view of the visual sensor, whether the contact between the arm of the robot and the human is an expected contact or an unexpected contact includes tracking a trajectory of at least one of the arm of the robot and the human, and determining whether the arm of the robot and the human are on a course to establish contact with each other unless the motion of the robot is interrupted.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the determining whether the arm of the robot and the human are on a course to establish contact with each other unless the motion of the robot is interrupted includes performing, by the controller, a visual check to verify a presence of the human within the predetermined proximity threshold from the robot.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein detecting a contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting a contact between the arm of the robot and an area of exposed human skin of the human.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein detecting a contact between the arm of the robot and the human includes detecting a contact between the arm of the robot and an area of clothed human skin of the human.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein causing by the controller, the robot to interrupt the motion of the robot includes causing, by the controller, the robot to halt the motion of the robot.