Modeling and Testing of a Stretchy Piezoelectric-Based Tactile Sensor

Present-day commercial tactile sensors for motion monitoring show poor water-absorbency, air-permeability, dynamic and flexibility, thus, prohibitive in wearable tech. To compensate for this restriction, this paper is concerned with the development and modeling of a stretchy arch-like tactile sensor for detecting signals in motion of a contact tissue. The main objective of this study is to design and model a piezoelectric sensor capable of measuring both obvious and weak movement state of contact tissue. The prototype sensor consists of three elastic layers and a combined arch. The cylindrical layer is made of micromachined resilient rubber can be used in noise reduction and shape-preserving property. The middle layer with a U-like structure that is built by high elasticity silica gel. The bottom layer is made of hyperelastomer with fence-like structure serving as a substrate and possessing hypo-allergenic and breathability function. Detecting the sensed objects athletic qualities is based on the relative deformation of contact object on the stretchy arch-like element. The PVDF film is embedded on the arched base plate and then sandwiched between the two electrodes to measure the force applied on the sensor. Mathematical algorithms and three-dimensional finite element modeling are used to analyze the performance of the designed system. The experimental results are very promising and proving the capability of the stretchy tactile sensor for haptic sensing and dynamic motion detection.