Fully FDM 3D Printed Flexible Capacitive and Resistive Transducers

Aeby, Xavier; Dommelen, Ryan van; Briand, D.

doi:10.1109/transducers.2019.8808268

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The additive manufacturing research field has developed techniques for the development of soft capacitive pressure sensors [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. To the authors’ knowledge, none of these sensors have been integrated into an exoskeleton.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hereby, the goal is to allow for seamless integration of sensing solutions to physical interfaces of wearable robots. Similarly to [ 20 , 21 ], the concept of the capacitive pressure sensor relies on a parallel plate structure. The read-out electronics that are proposed in this manuscript are cost-efficient and they will allow other researchers to reproduce the results that are presented here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots

Langlois

Roels

Velde

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Sensing pressure at the physical interface between the robot and the human has important implications for wearable robots. On the one hand, monitoring pressure distribution can give valuable benefits on the aspects of comfortability and safety of such devices. Additionally, on the other hand, they can be used as a rich sensory input to high level interaction controllers. However, a problem is that the commercial availability of this technology is mostly limited to either low-cost solutions with poor performance or expensive options, limiting the possibilities for iterative designs. As an alternative, in this manuscript we present a three-dimensional (3D) printed flexible capacitive pressure sensor that allows seamless integration for wearable robotic applications. The sensors are manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, which provides benefits in terms of versatility of design and implementation. In this study, a characterization of the 3D printed sensors in a test-bench is presented after which the sensors are integrated in an upper arm interface. A human-in-the-loop calibration of the sensors is then shown, allowing to estimate the external force and pressure distribution that is acting on the upper arm of seven human subjects while performing a dynamic task. The validation of the method is achieved by means of a collaborative robot for precise force interaction measurements. The results indicate that the proposed sensors are a potential solution for further implementation in human–robot interfaces.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots

Langlois

Roels

Velde

et al. 2021

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Drift is the generic name for slowly varying random changes, which can caused by, e.g., variations in temperature or humidity, unstable power supplies or 1/f noise [128]. In 3D printed sensors, these random errors might be caused by, for example, the positive temperature coefficient of the used piezoresistors [129], [130] or the creep of the used polymers [131], [132]. In order to compensate for this drift, a differential measurement might be used [133], or a separate temperature measurement can be used to compensate for this effect [134].…”

Section: A Drift Compensationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In comparison to piezoresistive sensing methods, the capacitive sensing method has the advantage that the drift, nonlinearity and hysteresis in the conductive elements do not influence the measurement. The ability to 3D print very soft materials allows the fabrication of force sensors that consist of a parallel plate capacitor with a dielectric that is directly compressed [32], [148], [130], [149]. It should be noted that capacitive sensors often need shielding or guarding in order to reduce the influence of parasitic capacitances.…”

Section: B Capacitive Sensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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In this review paper, we focus on the 3D printing technologies that consist of the extruding of fluid material in lines to form structures for electro-and biomechanical applications. Our paper reviews various 3D print technologies, materials, sensing technologies and applications of extrusion-based 3D printing. We also discuss how to overcome some of the challenges with 3D printed sensors, such as the anisotropy of the conductors as well as the drift and nonlinearity of the materials.

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