Fabrication of a Capacitance-Based Tactile Sensor with Biomedical Applications

The design, modeling, and testing of a flexible tactile sensor and its applications are presented. This sensor is made of polymer materials and can detect the 2D surface texture image and contact-force estimation. The sensing mechanism is based on the novel contact deflection effect of a membrane. We measure the amount of membrane deflection with measuring the change of capacitance between two plates. One plate is attached to membrane and the other fixed on the substrate of sensor. An electronic interface circuit is used to convert the capacitance variety to frequency variety. Furthermore, the size and shape of the sensor can be easily tailored to the applications requirements. The proposed sensor with the potential for further miniaturization is suitable for using in biomedical applications, especially in minimally invasive surgery (MIS).