Multifunction Force Sensor with Hollow Structure

In this study, the material of the dielectric layer was changed to reduce the structural rigidity of a capacitive tactile sensor, achieving the result of increasing the detection sensitivity without affecting the spatial resolution. Simulation and experimental results showed that the sensitivity of the sensor can be greatly improved by changing the elastomeric dielectric layer from a solid structure to a hollow structure. When the normal force was 0.25 N, the average detection sensitivity of the hollow structure was 32 pF/ N. Compared with the solid counterpart, the sensitivity was increased by roughly 600 times. When the shear force was 1.5 N, the average detection sensitivity of the hollow structure was 0.1 pF/N. Compared with the solid counterpart, it showed an improvement of at least five times regardless of the shear angle. In addition, the measured shear angle exhibited a tolerance of no more than 4°, which was similar to the announced sensors.