Scalable tactile sensor arrays on flexible substrates with high spatiotemporal resolution enabling slip and grip for closed-loop robotics

Science Advances, 2020

Hongseok Oh, Gyu-Chul Yi, Michael Yip, Shadi A Dayeh

Publisher Link: http://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.abd7795

Abstract: We report large-scale and multiplexed tactile sensors with submillimeter-scale shear sensation and autonomous and real-time closed-loop grip adjustment. We leveraged dual-gate piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated on flexible substrates to record normal and shear forces with high sensitivity over a broad range of forces. An individual ZnO TFT can intrinsically sense, amplify, and multiplex force signals, allowing ease of scalability for multiplexing from hundreds of elements with 100-μm spatial and sub–10-ms temporal resolutions. Notably, exclusive feedback from the tactile sensor array enabled rapid adjustment of grip force to slip, enabling the direct autonomous robotic tactile perception with a single modality. For biomedical and implantable device applications, pulse sensing and underwater flow detection were demonstrated. This robust technology, with its reproducible and …

Oh et al. (2020) Scalable tactile sensor arrays on flexible substrates with high spatiotemporal resolution enabling slip and grip for closed-loop robotics, Science Advances, vol. 6, no. 46, pp. eabd7795.