Touch, press and stroke: a soft capacitive sensor skin.

Journal: Scientific reports
PMID: 37880294

Abstract

Soft sensors that can discriminate shear and normal force could help provide machines the fine control desirable for safe and effective physical interactions with people. A capacitive sensor is made for this purpose, composed of patterned elastomer and containing both fixed and sliding pillars that allow the sensor to deform and buckle, much like skin itself. The sensor differentiates between simultaneously applied normal force and shear using summation and differences of signals from four deformable capacitors. Cross talk from shear to normal force is less than 2.5%, and between shear axes is less than 10%. Normal and shear stress sensitivity is 0.49 kPa and 0.31 kPa respectively, with a minimum displacement resolution of 40 μm. In addition, finger proximity is detectable at a range of up to 15 mm. The operation is demonstrated on a simple gripper holding a cup. The combination of features and the straightforward fabrication method make this sensor a candidate for implementation as a sensing skin for humanoid robotics applications.

Authors

  • Mirza S Sarwar
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada. mirzas@ece.ubc.ca.
  • Ryusuke Ishizaki
    Frontier Robotics, Innovative Research Excellence, Honda R&D Co., Ltd, 8-1 Honcho, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0188, Japan.
  • Kieran Morton
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Claire Preston
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Tan Nguyen
    Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Vinmec International Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  • Xu Fan
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Bertille Dupont
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Leanna Hogarth
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Takahide Yoshiike
    Frontier Robotics, Innovative Research Excellence, Honda R&D Co., Ltd, 8-1 Honcho, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0188, Japan.
  • Ruixin Qiu
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Yiting Wu
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
  • Shahriar Mirabbasi
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
  • John D W Madden
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada. jmadden@ece.ubc.ca.

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals