Soft Capacitive Sensor - RESEARCH
In collaboration with N. Sanchez-Tamayo et al. from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, PROXCEPTION GmbH developed measurement electronics for a capacitive-based tactile (contact force) sensor. The measurement system utilizes a multi-channel capacitive-to-digital converter (CDC) IC with mutual capacitance capability. This CDC IC was originally intended to be used as a touchscreen controller. The idea of using the IC in our project was inspired by M. Teyssier’s Project MUCA. However, we utilize the IC for contact force measurement. For CDC interfacing, signal processing, and streaming the sensor data, we added a microcontroller with UART, I²C, and USB communication interfaces. The PCB is optimized for low-noise measurements and fully customized for integration into a given gripper finger.
Publication: Learning-enhanced soft capacitive arrays with cross-sensor generalization for tactile robotics [link – tbd]
All resources required to replicate the electronics are available below. A ready-to-use measurement system is also available to order from PROXCEPTION GmbH. For more information, please contact us at contact@proxception.de.