Development of Super-Flexible Wires Using Conductive Adhesives for Artificial Skin Applications of Robots and Related Equipments

The super-flexible wires, which can withstand significant stretch as well as bend, are successfully developed by using the conductive adhesive containing Ag particles dispersed in a silicone-based binder. After curing under suitable conditions, the electrical conduction in the adhesive was detectable until the elongation reached to 100-180 %. Furthermore, the electric resistance was almost recovered after removing tensile stress. This wiring technology was applied for fabricating a prototype sensor sheet for artificial skin applications of robots and related equipments. The piezoelectric films composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) were assembled on a silicone substrate by using the silicone-based conductive adhesive in order to fabricate the sensor sheet. The information related to pressure distribution was monitored successfully when we toughed the sensor sheet.