Printed and Flexible Capacitive Pressure Sensors for Soft Robotics

Pressure sensors are among the most widely used devices to collect quantitative feedback during physical interactions of mechanical systems, especially in robotics. In this work, we demonstrate flexible interdigitated capacitive pressure sensors using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as pressure sensitive layer. Furthermore, we investigate the possibility to enhance the sensitivity of the sensors using a PDMS composite with nanoparticles that exhibit a high dielectric permittivity. The interdigitated electrodes are screen-printed and planar. The interdigitated electrode configuration eases the fabrication process flow compared to parallel-plate capacitive sensors, where the electrodes must be deposited twice, and in different layers. Thus, the developed sensors simplify integration and are suitable for a wide range of applications, paving the way towards cost effective flexible pressure sensors.