Novel micro-structure design of dielectric layer for capacitive tactile sensor

This paper presents a novel design of planar capacitive tactile sensor with a dielectric layer with inverted pyramids of mixed-sizes. Because of this unique microstructure, a linear capacitance-pressure characteristic is achieved with of this tactile sensor, and the measurement range is extended compared with a sensor with same-size pyramids. The effect of the arrangement of the pyramids on the sensor performance is experimentally investigated. The dynamic response (~6.9 ms), repeatability and durability of the sensor are improved and also evaluated.