A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Soft Pneumatic Tactile Pressure Sensor Matrix




AuthorsLampinen, Vilma; Koivikko, Anastasia; Pihlajamäki, Mika; Sharma, Vipul; Sariola, Veikko

PublisherMary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers

Publication year2024

JournalRobotics Reports

Journal name in sourceRobotics Reports

Volume2

Issue1

First page 115

Last page127

eISSN2835-0111

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1089/rorep.2024.0034

Web address https://doi.org/10.1089/rorep.2024.0034

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/484956487


Abstract

The use of fluidics in soft devices has gained popularity in recent years, particularly in actuators and logic circuits. However, most tactile pressure sensors in the literature output an electrical or optical signal increasing the complexity of soft devices as the electrical or optical signals are transduced from the sensors to fluidic logic, and electrical power is needed just for the purposes of sensors and transducers. Including electrical and optical materials into a soft device also complicates the fabrication of the device. To address these drawbacks, we propose a soft pneumatic tactile pressure sensor matrix consisting of four sensors and operating on fluidic principles. Each sensor contains a meandering microchannel fabricated only from the same elastomer typically used in soft devices. When compressed, the pressure drop of the channel changes, which is measured as a sensor output signal. Our sensors can detect forces ranging from under 0.1 N to 4 N, with a maximum sensitivity of 50.5 N−1. They have a hysteresis of 3.9% and the sensor signal drifts 16.4% in 12 hours under static compression. By using multiple sensors in a matrix, we can detect the point of contact and the magnitude of the applied force. Furthermore, we demonstrate that by attaching a protruding post to the matrix, we can infer forces acting on the post in three axes. This work paves the way toward electronics-free, entirely fluidic soft devices and soft robots that can detect not only the magnitudes of the contact forces but also their locations.


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Funding information in the publication
The work was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant numbers #343408 and #331368), the Doctoral Programme in Medicine, Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering of Tampere University, and The Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion (Grant number #7528).


Last updated on 2025-04-03 at 09:11