A flexible micromachined planar spiral inductor for use as an artificial tactile mechanoreceptor

A micromachined planar spiral inductor was created for use as a passive mechanoreceptor element in a tactile sensor. Simulations and experiments were conducted to examine the change in inductance and the deformation in elements implanted in a silicone rubber medium. The results of both showed that the implanted reception inductors had a reception area specific to their direction. The experiments showed that when the inductors were embedded at a depth of 1 mm in a silicone rubber medium with a Young's modulus of 0.98 MPa, the practical minimal spacing between them was 2 mm, and the practical minimal displacement they could detect was 100 mum. Using a spectrum ranging from 0 to 130 MHz, up to eleven implanted inductors could be measured simultaneously. The fabricated reception inductors had high robustness, high sensitivity, and high repeatability. When several were serially connected using two electrical lines, one single frequency spectrum of the circuit could provide information from all of them. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.