Low cost, easily manufactured, highly flexible strain and touch sensitive fiber for robotics applications

Authors:Christian Diaz Herrera, Srushti Raste, Simin Liu, Miles Modeste, Jiyang (Patton)Yin, Katelyn McCall, Yuxing Jared Yao, Roopkamal Chahal, Simon Chidley, Trung Ha, T. David Westmoreland, Sonia Roberts

Abstract:Existing stretch and touch sensors for robots are generally expensive with respect to at least one of material costs, required manufacturing equipment, or manufacturing time. We present and experimentally characterize a conductive fiber made using only inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf parts (conductive thread at $0.07/ft, silicone tubing at $0.94/ft) and tools (loop-style needle threader at $2), which can be manufactured quickly (20 cm length in 2 minutes.) We demonstrate its use as a resistive strain sensor with three applications: Triggering a grasp in a pneumatically actuated assistive finger, sensing the pose of a pneumatically actuated robotic strap, and estimating the pose of a flexible solid. We also demonstrate that it can be used as a capacitive sensor with two applications: First, as a touch sensor which triggers a commercial robot arm to move, and second, as a near-field sensor enabling the robot arm to follow a moving hand. The capacitive sensors are knitted, showcasing the high flexibility of the fiber. We discuss methods for improving manufacturing scalability and their cost trade-offs. Finally, we demonstrate a method for repairing a cut fiber.

Robotics (cs.RO)

arXiv:2606.13352 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2606.13352v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.13352 arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)