Development of a Photopolymer-based Flexible Tactile Sensor using Layered Fabrication and Direct Writing

Abstract

Many kinds of robots and machines have been developed to replace human laborin industrial and medical fields, as well as domestic life. In these applications, the device sneed to obtain environmental data using diverse sensors. Among such sensors, the tactile sensor is important because of its ability to get information regarding surface texture and force through the use of mechanical contact. In this research, a simple tactile sensor was developed using the direct writing of pressure sensitive material and layered fabrication of photocurable material. The body of the sensor was fabricated using layered fabrication, and pressure sensitive materials were dispensed between the layers using direct writing. We examined the line fabrication characteristics of the pressure sensitive material according to nozzle dispensing conditions. A simple <TEX>$4{\times}4$</TEX> array flexible tactile sensor was successfully fabricated using the proposed process.