Developing conductive elastomers for applications in robotic tactile sensing

Abstract

This paper describes a project to construct novel, compliant tactile sensors for robotics applications using specially formulated elastomeric materials. In the past, extensive use has been made of commercially available conductive elastomers in the design of pressure-sensitive tactile sensor arrays for robotics applications. The majority of these materials were originally manufactured for applications unrelated to tactile sensing and therefore are not ideally formulated for this task. A literature survey has shown that other conductive, piezoresistive and temperature-sensitive polymer formulations may be realizable and could form the basis for new and improved tactile sensors. Elastomer formulations have been identified which are suitable for making strain gauge and temperature-sensitive elements as well as low resistance conductive tracks for interconnecting wiring. All of these materials must be capable of withstanding the high degree of flexing and stretching found in compliant tactile sensors. Some of these materials have already been produced and a prototype highly compliant tactile sensor has been constructed using elastomeric materials. The design of and preliminary results from this sensor are presented.