A Skin-Like Soft Compression Sensor for Robotic Applications

We present a compression sensor based on a strain-sensitive carbon black-silicone composite cast on top of a printed circuit board with interdigitated electrodes. This results in a very sensitive and soft capacitive compression sensor not requiring a structured dielectric or compliant electrodes. We show how the optimal loading of carbon black to maximize the sensitivity depends on the type of carbon black and the stiffness of the silicone matrix. The optimal quantity of carbon black leads to a high sensitivity of 252% for an input force of 10 N (this corresponds to an input pressure of 17 kPa), without stiffening the silicone matrix or increasing the viscoelastic losses noticeably. The fabrication process of the sensors is much simpler than that of other soft capacitive sensors, and unlike carbon black-silicone resistive sensors, these capacitive sensors do not exhibit time-dependent impedance creep. They can be made thick without affecting their base capacitance or sensitivity, leading to compliant and conformable sensing interfaces suitable for a variety of applications, such as robotic tactile sensors.