Friction-Assisted Pulling Force Detection Mechanism for Tactile Sensors

This paper proposes a novel friction-assisted capacitance tactile sensing mechanism to simultaneously detect pulling, normal, and shear forces for 3D display image control applications with integrated transparency and flexibility. The sensing mechanism supports fingertip sensing ranges with ergonomic considerations, which is an improvement on previous studies. The mechanism produces demonstration sensitivities of 0.38, 0.28, 0.24, and 0.33 pF/N and sensing ranges 0-1 N, 0-1.6 N, 0-1.4 N, and 0-2.0 N for pulling (θ = 90°), friction-assisted pulling (θ = 30°), normal, and shear forces, respectively. In this paper, we proposed friction-assisted pulling force under θ = 30°, which fit a human fingertip and allowed it to control 3D virtual image. On average, the demonstration tactile sensor transparency is over 80% in the visible region. This study conducts and examines the theoretical design, simulation, fabrication, and measurement of the mechanism.