Design and Experiment of Flexible Multi-Functional Tactile Sensors for Robot Skin

Flexible multi-functional tactile sensors are designed and fabricated for intelligent robot skin to detect three-dimensional force and temperature.Using the significant piezoresistive effect of carbon black/silicone rubber,a three-dimensional force sensor with four-electrode symmetrical structure is designed.Using the significant temperature sensitive effect of carbon fiber-PDMS(polydimethylsiloxane),a temperature sensor with interdigitated electrode structure is designed. The principles of three-dimensional force and temperature detection are analyzed.In view of the themechanical/temperature sensitivity cross-interference of the two kinds of conductive composites,the flexible multi-functional tactile sensor array is structured in the way that three-dimensional force and temperature sensors are arranged in alternately concave-convex form. The experiment results prove that the flexible multi-functional tactile sensors have three-dimensional force and temperature detection functions and can be applied to robot sensitive skin.