A mutual capacitive normal-and shear-sensitive tactile sensor

Abstract

A new type of tactile sensor is introduced for either robotics [1] or prosthetic applications. The sensor, made by IC microfabrication techniques, detects displacement of a shielding plate which alters the mutual capacitance between two electrodes. Both normal and shear sensitivity are obtained, and a 16% change of capacitance is produced by a normal stress of 5 gw/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . Torque sensitivity can also be expected.