Study on the flexible piezoresistive tactile sensor for artificial sensory system

Abstract

Recently, tactile sensor researches for measuring pressure and strain, which are tactile sensations felt by humans, are being actively conducted. The tactile sensor can be used in various fields such as healthcare devices, touch screen, robotics. Conventional tactile sensor research has been conducted to enhance the sensitivity, sensing range, and reaction time of the sensor. However, in order to commercialize the tactile sensor, there are some challenges to be solved. Current tactile sensors have low uniformity and high hysteresis and they lower reliability of the sensor signal. In addition, previous reported tactile sensors are sensitive to various physical stimuli. In this case, it is not possible to accurately determine the external stimulus, because it is not possible to detect which stimulus induced the sensor signal. Therefore, the tactile sensor that is sensitive to only one stimulus is required.

In this study, a piezoresistive pressure sensor with high uniformity (sensitivity error range of 0.87 %) and low hysteresis (2.0 %) was fabricated using microfluidic system and chemical bonding of conductive materials. In addition, pressure insensitive strain sensor was fabricated using porous structure. Sensors fabricated in this study have suggested ways to solve problems that have not been solved in the field of tactile sensors, and they are expected to be used in various fields in the future.