Flexible tactile sensors show great potential for portable
healthcare
and environmental monitoring applications. However, challenges persist
in scaling up the manufacturing of stable tactile sensors with real-time
feedback. This work demonstrates a robust approach to fabricating
templated laser-induced graphene (TLIG)-based tactile sensors via
laser scribing, elastomer hot-pressing transfer, and 3D printing of
the Ag electrode. With different mesh sandpapers as templates, TLIG
sensors with adjustable sensing properties were achieved. The tactile
sensor obtains excellent sensitivity (52260.2 kPa–1 at a range of 0–7 kPa), a broad detection range (up to 1000
kPa), a low limit of detection (65 Pa), a rapid response (response/recovery
time of 12/46 ms), and excellent working stability (10000 cycles).
Benefiting from TLIG’s high performance and waterproofness,
TLIG sensors can be used as health monitors and even in underwater
scenarios. TLIG sensors can also be integrated into arrays acting
as receptors of the soft robotic gripper. Furthermore, a deep neural
network based on the convolutional neural network was employed for
texture recognition via a soft TLIG tactile sensing array, achieving
an overall classification rate of 94.51% on objects with varying surface
roughness, thus offering high accuracy in real-time practical scenarios.