Tactile Sensing Electronic-Skin for Wearable Health Monitoring and Robotic Applications
°Ç°­ ¸ð´ÏÅ͸µ ¹× ·Îº¿¿¡ Àû¿ë °¡´ÉÇÑ ÀüÀÚ ÇǺΠ±â¼ú
½ºÆ¼ºê¹Ú
KAIST

Herein we propose the use of microporous structures to fabricate 1) highly sensitive, large dynamic range pressure sensors with low hysteresis and 2) strain sensors with no-response to applied pressure. Together, these devices can be used to differentiate between various tactile inputs with high degree of accuracy for vital sign monitoring, and human motion detection. To fabricate the pressure sensors, we present a novel droplet-based microfluidic assisted emulsion technique to generate 3-dimensional microporous structure. Our technique can generate uniformly sized pores assembled in an orderly close-packed manner over a large area, resulting in high spatial uniformity. The size of the pores can easily be tuned, though which the sensitivity and dynamic range can be controlled. To fabricate the pressure insensitive strain sensor, we use microporous structure composed of multi-walled carbon nanotube encapsulated within polydimethylsiloxane matrix. Herein, we utilize the difference in structural change upon the application of compressive and tensile strain. Our pressure and strain sensors can easily be coated onto irregularly shaped 3-dimensional objects, and can be used to differentiate between shear stress and normal pressure.