Soft Tactile Sensors for Rehabilitation Robotic Hand with 3D Printed Folds

The tactile sensing technology has now progressed to the new developments in the field of robotics. In order to keep up with the trends, in this paper we have developed a soft fabric based tactile sensor which is incorporated with a 3D printed robotic hand for rehabilitation uses. Various types of tactile sensors were made with differences in the conductive material used. Conductive thread and conductive fabric based sensors were fabricated with the piezoresistive principle. On comparison with the conventional types of rigid tactile sensors, these newly fabricated sensors are advantageous in many ways in terms of their uncomplicated design, high sensitivity, lightweight and flexible nature. The 3D printed robotic hand has its inspiration from origami and its potential application in the rehabilitation process for stroke patients is validated in this paper.