This book presents recent advances in the design, fabrication and implementation of flexible printed sensors. It explores a range of materials for developing the electrode and substrate parts of the sensors, on the basis of their electrical and mechanical characteristics. The sensors were processed using laser cutting and 3D printing techniques, and the sensors developed were employed in a number of healthcare, environmental and industrial applications, including: monitoring of physiological movements, respiration, salinity and nitrate measurement, and tactile sensing. The type of sensor selected for each application depended on its dimensions, robustness and sensitivity. The sensors fabricated were also embedded in an IoT-based system, allowing them to be integrated into real-time applications.

The purpose of this research effort was to design, fabricate, and test a tactile sensor system consisting of an external high impedance switch circuit, an external multiplexing circuit, and a tactile sensor IC. In order to accomplish this objective, a hardware design and selection process was implemented along with a logical test methodology. An external multiplexer circuit samples all of the array elements in 50 ms. The current prototype sensor has linearity spanning loads of 0.8 g to 135 g, a load resolution of 20 g, and a maximum bandwidth of 25 Hz. Using an elementary shape recognition algorithm the sensor can recognize the shape of a contact load with a spatial resolution on the order of 700 micron. A comparison of three different adhesives used to bond the piezoelectric PVDF film to the surface of the electrode array was made and a urethane adhesive was selected for its superior electrical and physical properties.

Functional Tactile Sensors: Materials, Devices and Integrations focuses on the subject of novel materials design and device integration of tactile sensors for functional applications. The book addresses the design, materials characteristics, device operation principles, specialized device application and mechanisms of the latest reported tactile sensors. The emphasis of the book lies in the materials science aspects of tactile sensors—understanding the relationship between material properties and device performance. It will be an ideal resource for researchers working in materials science, engineering and physics. Includes the latest advances and recent developments in tactile sensors for artificial intelligence applications Reviews the relationship between materials properties and device performance Addresses materials and device design strategies for targeted sensing applications