A Tactile Sensor Device Exploiting the Tunable Sensitivity of Copper-PDMS Piezoresistive Composite

A low cost and highly mechanically flexible 8x8 pressure matrix sensor with dedicated electronics has been fabricated with an innovative metal-elastomer composite material. Under the action of a compressive stress the material exhibits a giant piezoresistive effect varying its electrical resistance of several orders of magnitude. This phenomenon can be tuned by changing the material composition parameters, directly modifying the sensitivity of the sensor. The micro casting fabrication technique, used for the preparation of self standing sheet of functional material, gives the possibility of easily fabricating complex-shaped structure suitable for integration on robot surface for tactile sensing. The sensor has been tested with a customized electronic circuit after an exhaustive characterization of the functional properties of the material.