State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Soft Robot. 2023 Feb;10(1):205-216. doi: 10.1089/soro.2021.0186. Epub 2022 May 23.
Soft pressure sensors have recently attracted considerable attention because of their applications in human-machine interface, soft robotics, and prosthetics. However, there remain some challenges in achieving satisfactory performance (e.g., high sensitivity, wide sensing range, high stability) for soft pressure sensors. This article reports an intentional blocking based photoelectric pressure sensor. Two different blocking methods are investigated: the single-row-pyramid blocking and the double-row-pyramid blocking. The sensor has a simple structure, which is made of a light-emitting diode, photosensitive element, and silicone sensor shell. Experiments demonstrate that the sensor has a high sensitivity (the maximum sensitivity is 48.07 kPa, and the minimum measurement pressure is 0.8 Pa), large pressure-sensing range (the sensing range is up to 120 kPa), superior stability (a drift about 0.4% over 12,130 repetitive cycles at 0-80 kPa), low drift (< ±0.2% in different 3-day testing), negligible hysteresis, and high signal-to-noise ratio (over 55 dB). By mounting the pressure sensor at the end of a robotic arm, the robot can detect subtle collisions (such as touching a balloon through a pinpoint). In addition, this article fabricates a tactile glove based on the proposed pressure sensor and shows the application of this glove for music playing and object weighing. This study provides a new structure for photoelectric sensors to increase sensitivity and also provides a more convenient way to fabricate photoelectric pressure sensors.
近年来，由于在人机界面、软机器人和假肢等领域的应用，软压力传感器受到了广泛关注。然而，要实现软压力传感器令人满意的性能（例如高灵敏度、宽传感范围、高稳定性）仍然存在一些挑战。本文报道了一种基于有意阻塞的光电压力传感器。研究了两种不同的阻塞方法：单行金字塔阻塞和双行金字塔阻塞。该传感器结构简单，由发光二极管、光敏元件和硅树脂传感器外壳组成。实验表明，该传感器具有高灵敏度（最大灵敏度为 48.07kPa，最小测量压力为 0.8Pa）、大压力传感范围（传感范围高达 120kPa）、优异的稳定性（在 0-80kPa 下重复循环 12130 次时漂移约 0.4%）、低漂移（在不同的 3 天测试中小于±0.2%）、可忽略的滞后和高信噪比（超过 55dB）。通过将压力传感器安装在机械臂的末端，机器人可以检测到微妙的碰撞（例如通过针尖触摸气球）。此外，本文还基于所提出的压力传感器制作了一个触觉手套，并展示了该手套在音乐演奏和物体称重方面的应用。本研究为光电传感器提供了一种提高灵敏度的新结构，也为光电压力传感器的制作提供了一种更方便的方法。
