Patent ID: 8272278

Claim:
A biomimetic tactile sensor system for determining thermal properties of an object comprising: a rigid core having a surface; an elastomeric skin surrounding at least a portion of the core, having an inner and outer surface, and configured to form a space for confining fluid between the surface of the portion of the core and the inner surface of the elastomeric skin; a plurality of electrodes disposed on the surface of the rigid core and configured to be in contact with the fluid in a manner that causes the impedance between at least two of the electrodes to change as the amount of force between the outer surface of the elastomeric skin and the object changes when fluid is within the space between the surface of the portion of the core and the inner surface of the elastomeric skin; a temperature sensor configured and arranged to detect a temperature of the surface of the rigid core; a heater configured to heat the temperature sensor above ambient temperature; and an algorithm configured to determine thermal properties of the object based on the impedance between the at least two of the electrodes and the slope of temperature change detected by the temperature sensor.