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Wang Y, Zhao J, Zeng X, Huang J, Wen Y, Brugger J, Zhang X. All-Printed Finger-Inspired Tactile Sensor Array for Microscale Texture Detection and 3D Reconstruction. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2400479. [PMID: 38696643 PMCID: PMC11234443 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202400479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
Electronic skins are expected to replicate a human-like tactile sense, which significantly detects surface information, including geometry, material, and temperature. Although most texture features can be sensed in the horizontal direction, the lack of effective approaches for detecting vertical properties limits the development of artificial skin based on tactile sensors. In this study, an all-printed finger-inspired tactile sensor array is developed to realize the 3D detection and reconstruction of microscale structures. A beam structure with a suspended multilayer membrane is proposed, and a tactile sensor array of 12 units arranged in a dual-column layout is developed. This architecture enables the tactile sensor array to obtain comprehensive geometric information of micro-textures, including 3D morphology and clearance characteristics, and optimizes the 3D reconstruction patterns by self-calibration. Moreover, an innovative screen-printing technology incorporating multilayer printing and sacrificial-layer techniques is adopted to print the entire device. In additon, a Braille recognition system utilizing this tactile sensor array is developed to interpret Shakespeare's quotes printed in Grade 2 Braille. The abovementioned demonstrations reveal an attractive future vision for endowing bioinspired robots with the unique capability of touching and feeling the microscale real world and reconstructing it in the cyber world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yilin Wang
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Jiafeng Zhao
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Xu Zeng
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Jingwen Huang
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Yading Wen
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Juergen Brugger
- Microsystems Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Xiaosheng Zhang
- School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
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Zhou J, Fu C, Fang J, Shang K, Pu X, Zhang Y, Jiang Z, Lu X, He C, Jia L, Yao Y, Qian L, Yang T. Prosthetic finger for fingertip tactile sensing via flexible chromatic optical waveguides. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2023; 10:4940-4951. [PMID: 37609940 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00921a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Building prosthetics indistinguishable from human limbs to accurately receive and transmit sensory information to users not only promises to radically improve the lives of amputees, but also shows potential in a range of robotic applications. Currently, a mainstream approach is to embed electrical or optical sensors with force/thermal sensing functions on the surface or inside of prosthetic fingers. Compared with electrical sensing technologies, tactile sensors based on stretchable optical waveguides have the advantages of easy fabrication, chemical safety, environmental stability, and compatibility with prosthetic structural materials. However, so far, research has mainly focused on the perception of finger joint motion or external press, and there is still a lack of study on optical sensors with fingertip tactile capabilities (such as texture, hardness, slip detection, etc.). Here we report a 3D printing prosthetic finger with flexible chromatic optical waveguides implanted at the fingertip. The finger achieves distributed displacement/force sensing detection, and exhibits high sensitivity, fast response and good stability. The finger can be used to conduct active sensory experiments, and the detection parameters include object contour, hardness, slip direction and speed, temperature, etc. Finally, exploratory research on identifying and manipulating objects is carried out with this finger. The developed prosthetic finger can artificially recreate touch perception and realize complex functions such as note-writing analysis and braille recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Zhou
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Chunqiao Fu
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Jiahao Fang
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Kedong Shang
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Xiaobo Pu
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
- China Railway Academy CO., LTD., Chengdu 610031, P. R. China
| | - Yong Zhang
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Zhongbao Jiang
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Xulei Lu
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Changliu He
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Lingxu Jia
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Yuming Yao
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Linmao Qian
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
| | - Tingting Yang
- Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China.
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Yang J, Chen Y, Liu S, Liu C, Ma T, Luo Z, Ge G. Single-Line Multi-Channel Flexible Stress Sensor Arrays. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:1554. [PMID: 37630090 PMCID: PMC10456942 DOI: 10.3390/mi14081554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
Flexible stress sensor arrays, comprising multiple flexible stress sensor units, enable accurate quantification and analysis of spatial stress distribution. Nevertheless, the current implementation of flexible stress sensor arrays faces the challenge of excessive signal wires, resulting in reduced deformability, stability, reliability, and increased costs. The primary obstacle lies in the electric amplitude modulation nature of the sensor unit's signal (e.g., resistance and capacitance), allowing only one signal per wire. To overcome this challenge, the single-line multi-channel signal (SLMC) measurement has been developed, enabling simultaneous detection of multiple sensor signals through one or two signal wires, which effectively reduces the number of signal wires, thereby enhancing stability, deformability, and reliability. This review offers a general knowledge of SLMC measurement beginning with flexible stress sensors and their piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, and triboelectric sensing mechanisms. A further discussion is given on different arraying methods and their corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Finally, this review categorizes existing SLMC measurement methods into RLC series resonant sensing, transmission line sensing, ionic conductor sensing, triboelectric sensing, piezoresistive sensing, and distributed fiber optic sensing based on their mechanisms, describes the mechanisms and characteristics of each method and summarizes the research status of SLMC measurement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayi Yang
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
- College of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
| | - Shuoyan Liu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore
| | - Chang Liu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore
| | - Tian Ma
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
- College of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
| | - Zhenmin Luo
- College of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
| | - Gang Ge
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore
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Zou Q, Xie Y, Yin Y, Liu B, Yu Y. Flexible Pressure Sensors Based on Microcrack Structure and Composite Conductive Mechanism for Medical Robotic Applications. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:1110. [PMID: 37374695 DOI: 10.3390/mi14061110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
With the advancement of intelligent medical robot technology, machine touch utilizing flexible sensors has emerged as a prominent research area. In this study, a flexible resistive pressure sensor was designed incorporating a microcrack structure with air pores and a composite conductive mechanism of silver/carbon. The aim was to achieve enhanced stability and sensitivity with the inclusion of macro through-holes (1-3 mm) to expand the sensitive range. This technology solution was specifically applied to the machine touch system of the B-ultrasound robot. Through meticulous experimentation, it was determined that the optimal approach involved uniformly blending ecoflex and nano carbon powder at a mass ratio of 5:1, and subsequently combining the mixture with an ethanol solution of silver nanowires (AgNWs) at a mass ratio of 6:1. This combination of components resulted in the fabrication of a pressure sensor with optimal performance. Under the pressure testing condition of 5 kPa, a comparison of the resistance change rate was conducted among samples using the optimal formulation from the three processes. It was evident that the sample of ecoflex-C-AgNWs/ethanol solution exhibited the highest sensitivity. Its sensitivity was increased by 19.5% compared to the sample (ecoflex-C) and by 11.3% compared to the sample (ecoflex-C-ethanol). The sample (ecoflex-C-AgNWs/ethanol solution), which only incorporated internal air pore microcracks without through-holes, exhibited sensitive response to pressures below 5 N. However, with the addition of through-holes, the measurement range of its sensitive response increased to 20 N, representing a 400% increase in the measurement range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Zou
- School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
- Tianjin International Joint Research Center for Internet of Things, Tianjin 300072, China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Imaging and Sensing Microelectronic Technology, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Yuheng Xie
- School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Yunjiang Yin
- School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Baoguo Liu
- School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Yi Yu
- School of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
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Wu D, Cheng X, Chen Z, Xu Z, Zhu M, Zhao Y, Zhu R, Lin L. A flexible tactile sensor that uses polyimide/graphene oxide nanofiber as dielectric membrane for vertical and lateral force detection. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2022; 33:405205. [PMID: 35617936 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac73a4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Flexible force sensors are of great interest in the fields of healthcare, physiological signals, and aircraft smart skin applications because of their compatibility with curved surfaces. However, the simultaneous detection of multidirectional forces remains an engineering challenge, despite the great progress made in recent years. Herein, we present the development of a flexible capacitive force sensor capable of efficiently distinguishing normal and sliding shear forces. A two-layer electrospun polyimide/graphene oxide (PI/GO) nanofiber membrane is used as the dielectric layer, which is sandwiched between one top electrode and four symmetrically distributed bottom electrodes. This composite membrane has an improved dielectric constant, a reduced friction coefficient, and good compressibility, leading to superior performance that includes high sensitivity over a wide operational range with measured results of 3 MPa-1for 0-242 kPa (0-2.2 N) and 0.92 MPa-1for 242-550 kPa (2.2-5 N) in the normal direction; and better than 1 N-1for 0-3 N in thex- andy-axis directions. The system also has a low detection limit of 10 Pa, fast response and recovery times of 39 ms and 13 ms, respectively, a good cyclic stability of 10,000 cycles at a pressure of 176 kPa, and promising potential for use in high-temperature environments (200 °C). Moreover, a prototype 4 × 4 sensor array has been fabricated and successfully used in a robotic system to grasp objects and operate a wireless toy car. As such, the proposed system could offer superior capabilities in simultaneous multidirectional force sensing for applications such as intelligent robots, human-machine interaction, and smart skin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dezhi Wu
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, 518057, People's Republic of China
| | - Xianshu Cheng
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, 518057, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhuo Chen
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, 518057, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenjin Xu
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, 518057, People's Republic of China
| | - Minjie Zhu
- Sensor and Network Control Center, Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Yang Zhao
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Rui Zhu
- Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Liwei Lin
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
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Fu X, Zhang J, Xiao J, Kang Y, Yu L, Jiang C, Pan Y, Dong H, Gao S, Wang Y. A high-resolution, ultrabroad-range and sensitive capacitive tactile sensor based on a CNT/PDMS composite for robotic hands. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:18780-18788. [PMID: 34750598 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr03265h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Tactile sensors are of great significance for robotic perception improvement to realize stable object manipulation and accurate object identification. To date, developing a broad-range tactile sensor array with high sensitivity economically remains a critical challenge. In this study, a flexible capacitive tactile sensor array, consisting of a carbon nanotube (CNT)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, parylene films, and two polyimide (PI) films patterned with electrodes, is facilely prepared. The CNT/PDMS film, acting as a giant dielectric permittivity material, is utilized to improve the sensitivity, while the parylene film serves as the scaffold architecture to extend the working range of the tactile sensor array. Also, it is promising to realize mass production for this sensor array due to the scalable fabrication procedure. The as-prepared sensor exhibits excellent sensing performance with a high sensitivity of 1.61% kPa-1 (<1 MPa), an ultra-broad pressure working range of 0.9 kPa-2.55 MPa, an outstanding durability, a stability up to 5000 cycles, and a fast response time. By integrating our tactile sensor array with a robotic gripper, we show that robots can successfully differentiate object shapes and manipulate light and heavy objects with a closed-loop pressure feedback, demonstrating its great potential in robotic perception and wearable applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Fu
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Jiqiang Zhang
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Jianliang Xiao
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Yuran Kang
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Longteng Yu
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Chengpeng Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology of Tianjin, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Yuxiang Pan
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Hao Dong
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 310000, China
| | - Shuaikang Gao
- School of Mechanical Engineering & Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China
| | - Yancheng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
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