Robotic e-skin for high performance stretchable acceleration sensor via combinations of novel soft and functional polymers

Abstract

Materials possessing both high sensitivity and softness comparable to those of human skin are necessary for stretchable tactile sensing by soft robots. There have been many studies on the measurement of strain and stress in stretching processes, however direct measurement of stretching acceleration requires new sensing devices to be designed. Herein, we developed a stretchable acceleration sensor for stretching speed monitoring based on the piezoelectric phenomena by combining various polymers. Moreover, a scalable printing technology with custom-developed functional polymeric inks was utilized to fabricate a soft stretchable sensor for the simultaneous detection of dual-directional stretching speed (up to approximately 100 mm s−1) and robotic sensing across a multi-range of real-time tactile measurements, with a maximum response speed to the applied stress of 15 ms. The proposed sensor can be used in conjunction with other sensors. The proposed sensing platform will be essential in designing intelligent soft robotic systems and advanced practical wearable devices.