Flexible Pressure Sensor Array with Tunable Measurement Range and High Sensitivity

Flexible tactile sensors with multifunctionalities can emulate the sense of touch. Currently, conventional flexible tactile sensors are limited by sensitivity and range, and as the artificial skin, sensors need to be relatively thin and fit comformally on the skin or robot arm. Therefore, the shape variables of the material are limited, and in order to have a good pressure distribution, a flexible pressure sensing array needs to be designed. In this paper, a highly sensitive flexible pressure sensing array with tunable measurement range is demonstrated. Polyaniline and acidified multi-walled carbon nanotubes coated polypropylene (PP) foam hybrid material was synthesized and used as the sensing material. The measurement range of the sensors can be tuned by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coatings inside the holes of the PP foam without sacrificing sensitivity. The durability of PVA-coated sensors is verified by a 2000-cycles fatigue test.