Soft curvature sensors for measuring the rotational angles of mechanical fingers

2020, Volume 15, Issue 4

Abstract

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Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering >> 2020, Volume 15, Issue 4 doi: 10.1007/s11465-020-0596-0

Soft curvature sensors for measuring the rotational angles of mechanical fingers

School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China

Received: 2020-09-08 Accepted: 2020-09-28 Available online: 2020-09-28

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Abstract

The design, fabrication, and testing of soft sensors that measure elastomer curvature and mechanical finger bending are described in this study. The base of the soft sensors is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is a translucent elastomer. The main body of the soft sensors consists of three layers of silicone rubber plate, and the sensing element is a microchannel filled with gallium-indium-tin (Ga-In-Sn) alloy, which is embedded in the elastomer. First, the working principle of soft sensors is investigated, and their structure is designed. Second, the relationship between curvature and resistance is determined. Third, several sensors with different specifications are built in accordance with the structural design. Experiments show that the sensors exhibit high accuracy when the curvature changes within a certain range. Lastly, the soft sensors are applied to the measurement of mechanical finger bending. Experiments show that soft curvature sensors can effectively reflect mechanical finger bending and can be used to measure the bending of mechanical fingers with high sensitivity within a certain working range.

Keywords

soft sensor ; Ga-In-Sn alloy ; strain sensing ; curvature sensing ; mechanical finger bending

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