The development of a highly twistable tactile sensing array with stretchable helical electrodes

This paper presents a novel design of highly twistable tactile sensing array. The proposed artificial skin, which employs extendable spiral electrodes, is highly flexible and durable so that it can conform to more complex surfaces without damaging the skin structure and the metal interconnects on the sensing array. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is employed as the main structure material of the skin, and the conductive polymer is used as the tactile sensing elements. The corresponding scanning circuit for resistive sensing array will also be designed and implemented. The electrical and mechanical characteristics of conductive polymer are measured, and the tactile images induced by PMMA stamps of different shapes are successfully captured. Also, the fabricated sensing array can be twisted up to 70 degrees without any damage in the structure or functionality. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.