Senthil Kumar K, Chen PY, Ren H. A Review of Printable Flexible and Stretchable Tactile Sensors.
RESEARCH (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 2019;
2019:3018568. [PMID:
31912031 PMCID:
PMC6944518 DOI:
10.34133/2019/3018568]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Flexible and stretchable tactile sensors that are printable, nonplanar, and dynamically morphing are emerging to enable proprioceptive interactions with the unstructured surrounding environment. Owing to its varied range of applications in the field of wearable electronics, soft robotics, human-machine interaction, and biomedical devices, it is required of these sensors to be flexible and stretchable conforming to the arbitrary surfaces of their stiff counterparts. The challenges in maintaining the fundamental features of these sensors, such as flexibility, sensitivity, repeatability, linearity, and durability, are tackled by the progress in the fabrication techniques and customization of the material properties. This review is aimed at summarizing the recent progress of rapid prototyping of sensors, printable material preparation, required printing properties, flexible and stretchable mechanisms, and promising applications and highlights challenges and opportunities in this research paradigm.
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