LAUSR

Abstract In this paper, we present a design of mastication robot for texture analysis of foods in similar environment of human masticatory process respect to the following two things: First, subminiature load cells were installed at each artificial tooth of the upper jaw in order to directly measure interaction forces between the each tooth and foods. Collecting the sensor signals on each tooth, we can see which of teeth dominantly interacts with foods and analyze different patterns of the interaction forces among the incisor, cuspid and molar teeth. Second, we developed linear actuators for human masticatory muscles, which size, acting force, and coordination of attachment match with human counterpart. By appropriately coordinating the linear actuators, the resultant jaw motion can replicate the human chewing motion; thus, it generates similar patterns of the interaction forces between human teeth and foods. Two experiments for realization of the chewing motion and analysis of interaction forces between each tooth and food samples were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed mastication robots.