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  • Printed Soft Sensor with Passivation Layers for the Detection of Object Slippage by a Robotic Gripper.

Printed Soft Sensor with Passivation Layers for the Detection of Object Slippage by a Robotic Gripper.

Micromachines (2020-10-15)
Reo Miura, Tomohito Sekine, Yi-Fei Wang, Jinseo Hong, Yushi Watanabe, Keita Ito, Yoshinori Shouji, Yasunori Takeda, Daisuke Kumaki, Fabrice Domingues Dos Santos, Atsushi Miyabo, Shizuo Tokito
ABSTRACT

Tactile sensing, particularly the detection of object slippage, is required for skillful object handling by robotic grippers. The real-time measurement and identification of the dynamic shear forces that result from slippage events are crucial for slip detection and effective object interaction. In this study, a ferroelectric polymer-based printed soft sensor for object slippage detection was developed and fabricated by screen printing. The proposed sensor demonstrated a sensitivity of 8.2 μC·cm-2 and was responsive to shear forces applied in both the parallel and perpendicular directions. An amplifier circuit, based on a printed organic thin-film transistor, was applied and achieved a high sensitivity of 0.1 cm2/V·s. Therefore, this study experimentally demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed printable high-sensitivity tactile sensor, which could serve as part of a wearable robotic e-skin. The sensor could facilitate the production of a system to detect and prevent the slippage of objects from robotic grippers.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Poly(4-vinylphenol), average Mw ~25,000
Sigma-Aldrich
Poly(melamine-co-formaldehyde) methylated, solution, average Mn ~432, 84 wt. % in 1-butanol