Object imaging with a piezoelectric robotic tactile sensor

A two-dimensional, electrically multiplexed robotic tactile sensor was realized by coupling a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer film to a monolithic silicon integrated circuit (IC). The IC incorporates 64 sensor electrodes arranged in a symmetrical 8×8 matrix. Each electrode occupies a 400×400 μm square area, and they are separated from each other by 300 μm. A 40-μm-thick piezoelectric PVDF polymer film was attached to the electrode array with an electrically nonconductive methane adhesive. The response of the tactile sensor is linear for loads spanning 0.8-135 grams-of-force (gmf) (0.00-1.35 Newtons (N)). The response bandwidth is 25 Hz, the hysteresis level is tolerable, and, for operation in the sensor´s linear range, taxel crosstalk is negligible. The historically persistent stability and response reproducibility limitation associated with piezoelectric-based tactile sensors has been solved by implementing a novel pre-charge voltage bias technique to initialize the pre- and post-load sensor responses. A rudimentary tactile object image measurement procedure for applied loads has been devised to recognize the silhouette of a sharp edge, square, trapezoid, isosceles triangle, circle, toroid, slotted screw, and cross-slotted screw