Capacitive Contact Sensor on an Elastic Polymer Sheet

• Main Authors: Herbert Enser, Christina Offenzeller, Marcel Knoll, Wolfgang Hilber, Bernhard Jakoby
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-12-01
• Series: Proceedings
• Subjects: printed sensors; embedded sensors; printed electronics; printed interdigital sensor; printed capacitive sensor; printed pressure sensor
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/2/13/1515

There is an increasing need for embedded sensors integrated into parts and mechanical components, which are often polymer based. We investigated a solution to print capacitive sensors onto elastic polymer sheets to monitor the physical contact with other adjacent components. The capacitive sensors are oriented in an array across the surface of said sheet to monitor the contact and the distance to a neighboring electrically conductive object. In the particularly investigated setup, the sheet is embedded between to metallic (aluminum) plates and the capacitance of the sensor is changed due to the compression of the dielectric material between the interdigital fingers constituting the sensor.