A flexible tactile sensing array for robot applications

Abstract

This work presents the development of a reliable capacitive tactile sensing array which will be tailored as the artificial skins for a humanoid robot. The proposed capacitive sensing element include of two sensing electrodes and a common floating electrode. The sensing electrodes as well as the metal interconnect for signal scanning are implemented on the FPCB, while the floating electrode is patterned on one of the PDMS structures. This special design can effectively reduce the complexity of device structure and thus makes the device highly manufacturable. The measured maximum sensitivity is about 14.5%/kPa. Pressure distribution is captured using a scanning circuit. The deployment of the skin on a humanoid robot is also demonstrated.