Elastomer based force sensor fabricated by 3D additive manufacturing

Abstract

The aim of this paper is an investigation of the additive manufacturing for the realization of a low-cost sensor and its application for force measurements. The proposed sensor consists of an inductor, an elastic spacer and a smooth ferrite plate. The inductor is fabricated by 3D printing technology. The spacer is realized in the form of an elastic mesh which was realized by employing 3D printing technology for mold fabrication in which is poured liquid silicone elastomer Ecoflex. The commercially available ferrite material is used as a magnetic part of the sensor. The dimensions of the developed sensor with casing are 25.2 x 29.3 x 7.7 mm3. The working principle of the sensor bases on the changes of inductance, when the distance between the inductor and the ferrite decreases due to the compression of the spacer with applied force. The proposed sensor is designed, fabricated and finally characterized within the force range from 0 to 2 N.

A Review of Extrusion-Based 3D Printing for the Fabrication of Electro- and Biomechanical Sensors

“…be fabricated by means of directly printing with Electrifi filament (see Table III ) [66] or electroplating onto Electrifi material [119]. Other inductive coils and sensors are printed by means of embedding copper and nickel wire [31], by filling a 3D print with silver paste [152] or liquid metal [153], [154] or by spraying a graphene-filament coil with silver nano ink [151].…”

Plantar Pressure‐Based Insole Gait Monitoring Techniques for Diseases Monitoring and Analysis: A Review

“…[ 81 ] Based on these considerations, the elastomer Smooth‐Sil 950, EcoFlex 00–30, and Sylgard 184 are frequently chosen. [ 80–82 ] The bottom coils are single‐ or multi‐layer planar metal wires (e.g., copper wires, silver ink wires, and liquid eutectic alloys wires of Ga and In) on flexible substrates, [ 83 ] fabricated by etching [ 79,80,82 ] or printing technologies. [ 84 ]…”

Recent Trends and Innovation in Additive Manufacturing of Soft Functional Materials

“…AM techniques have been used as methods to develop both, casing and sensing elements, to build soft sensors with expanded material and geometric selection [110][111][112]. Gao et al used a ME technique to create a substrate for a pressure sensor that had slots built into it where conductive elastomer composites were later cast [110].…”