• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.130-133
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• 2010

A flexible three-axial tactile sensor was fabricated on Kapton polyimide film using polymer micromachining technology. Nichrome (Ni:Cr = 8:2) strain gauges were positioned on an etched membrane to detect normal and shear loads. The optimal positions of strain gauges were determined through strain distribution from finite element analysis. The sensor was evaluated by applying normal and shear loads from 0 N to 0.8 N using an evaluation system. Sensitivity of the tactile sensor to normal and shear loads was about 206.6 mV/N and 70.1 mV/N, respectively. The sensor showed good linearity, and its determination coefficient ($R^2$) was about 0.982. The developed sensor can be applied in a curved or compliant surface that requires slip detection and flexibility, such as a robotic fingertip.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.251-256
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• 2006

This paper describes the flexible force sensor using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and silicone rubber for the tactile sensation to detect the distributed normal force. The newly designed FBG flexible force has simple structure and can be easily multiplexed with simple wiring compared with the other electric mechanical sensors. We designed the flexible silicone rubber transducer and found the optimum embedding position of FBG in the transducer using the finite element analysis. This flexible force sensor has good performance and is immunity to the electromagnetic field compared with any other kinds of small force sensors for tactile sensation.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2005

This paper presents fabrication process and experimental results of two different types of flexible MEMS biosensors based on polymer/metal multilayer processing techniques. One type of a biosensor is a microelectrode array (MEA) for nerve signal monitoring through implanting the MEA into a living body, and another is a tactile sensor capable of being mounted on an arbitrary-shaped surface. The microelectrode array was fabricated and its electrical characteristics have been examined through in vivo and in vitro experiment. For sensitive skin, flexible tactile sensor array was fabricated and its sensitivity has been analyzed. Mechanical flexibility of these biosensors has been achieved by using a polymer, and it is verified by implanting a MEA to an animal and mounting the tactile sensor on an arbitrary-shaped surface.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2015.07a
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• pp.1229-1230
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• 2015

Monitoring of mechanical properties of tissues as well as direction/quantities of forces is considered as an essential way for disease diagnosis and haptic feedback systems. There are extensively increasing interests for measuring normal/shear force and touch feelings, especially for surgery systems. Highly sensitive and flexible tactile sensor is needed in palpation for detecting cancer cyst as well as real time pressure monitoring in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Importantly, MEMS technique with miniaturized fabrication technique is essential for the on-chip integration with biopsy and biomedical grasper. Here, we propose the flexible tactile sensor with high sensitivity based on piezoresistive effect. We analyzed the sensitivity according to the pressure and directions and showed the ability of discrimination of the different materials surfaces, illustrating the feasibility of the flexible tactile sensor for biomedical grasper by mimicking human skin.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.535-547
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• 2012

Controlling the balance of motion in a context involving a biped robot navigating a rugged surface or a step is a difficult task. In the present study, a $3{\times}5$ flexible piezoelectric tactile sensor array is developed to provide a foot pressure map and zero moment point for a biped robot. We introduce an innovative concept involving structural electrodes on a piezoelectric film in order to improve the sensitivity. The tactile sensor consists of a polymer piezoelectric film, PVDF, between two patterned flexible print circuit substrates (FPC). Additionally, a silicon rubber bump-like structure is attached to the FPC and covered by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. Experimental results show that the output signal of the sensor exhibits a linear behavior within 0.2 N ~ 9 N, while its sensitivity is approximately 42 mV/N. According to the characteristic of the tactile sensor, the readout module is designed for an in-situ display of the pressure magnitudes and distribution within $3{\times}5$ taxels. Furthermore, the trajectory of the zero moment point (ZMP) can also be calculated by this program. Consequently, our tactile sensor module can provide the pressure map and ZMP information to the in-situ feedback to control the balance of moment for a biped robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2014

Flexible tactile sensors can provide valuable feedback to intelligent robots about the environment. This is especially important when the robots, e.g., service robots, are sharing the workspace with human. This paper presents a flexible tactile sensor that was manufactured by direct writing technique, which is one of 3D printing method with multi-walled carbon nano-tubes. The signal processing system consists of two parts: analog circuits to amplify and filter the sensor output and digital signal processing algorithms to reduce undesired noise. Finally, experimental setup is implemented and evaluated to identify the characteristics of the flexible tactile sensor system. This paper showed that this type of sensors can detect the initiation and termination of contacts with appropriate signal processing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2011.06a
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• pp.1083-1084
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• 2011

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 2006

We presented that fabrication process and characteristics of 3 axes flexible tactile sensor available for normal and shear force fabricated using Si micromachining and packaging technologies. The fabrication processes for 3 axes flexible tactile sensor were classified in the fabrication of sensor chips and their packaging on the flexible PCB. The variation rate of resistance was about 2.1 %/N and 0.5 %/N in applying normal and shear force, respectively. The flexibility of fabricated 3 axes flexible tactile sensor array was good enough to place on the finger-tip.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.583-588
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• 2015

Flexible tactile sensors can provide valuable feedback to intelligent robots regarding the environment around them. This is especially important when robots such as, service robots share a workspace with humans. This paper presents a contact force measurement algorithm of a flexible tactile sensor. This sensor is manufactured by a direct-writing technique, which is one 3D printing method, using multi-walled carbon nano-tubes. An analog signal processing circuit has been designed and implemented to reduce noise contained in the sensor output. In addition, a digital version of the Butterworth filter was implemented by software running on a microcontroller. Through various experiments, characteristics of the sensor system have been identified. Based on three traits, an algorithm to detect the contact and measure the contact force has been developed. The entire system showed a promising prospect to detect the contact over a large and curved area.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1222-1228
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• 2002

This research is the development of a flexible tactile sensor array for service robots using PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) film for the detection of a contact state in real time. The prototype of the tactile sensor which has 8${\times}$8 array using PVDF film was fabricated. In the fabrication procedure, the electrode patterns and the common electrode of the thin conductive tape were attached to both sides of the 281$\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness PVDF film using conductive adhesive. The sensor was covered with polyester film for insulation and attached to the rubber base for a stable structure. The proposed fabrication method is simple and easy to make the sensor. The sensor has the advantages in the implementing for practical applications because its structure is flexible and the shape of the each tactile element can be designed arbitrarily. The signals of a contact force to the tactile sensor were sensed and processed in the DSP system in which the signals are digitized and filtered. Finally, the signals were integrated for taking the force profile. The processed signals of the output of the sensor were visualized in a personal computer, and the shape and force distribution of the contact object were obtained. The reasonable performance for the detection of the contact state was verified through the sensing examples.