We report the development of a novel soft body touch sensor capable of measuring contact force along its length. The sensor can be embedded in soft objects and on curved surfaces for smart furniture, interactive electronics, and general robotics applications. The sensor uses pneumatic transduction principle and achieves both high sensitivity and impact loading tolerance. The development is motivated by the needs of consumer electronics industries for smart furniture and interactive toys. The current work fills a gap of existing soft-bodied touch sensors. The main sensor body is completely polymeric and contains no conductive or semiconducting material elements. It exhibits high pass frequency response to reject common mode contact forces or shape variations. The central question addressed by this paper is dynamic behavior of this sensor under normal and impact touch force. In this study we developed a theoretical model for the sensor output and validated with experimental measurements. We modeled sensor behavior under two operational regimes of different unloading speed. Depending on the rate of change, the sensor could be in force limited relaxation mode or elastic relaxation (free relaxation) mode. Measurements have been performed to capture time constants of occupant behavior in a smart cushion application.

中文翻译：

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具有抗冲击性的软体带式触摸传感器：动态行为研究

我们报告了一种新型软体触摸传感器的开发，该传感器能够沿其长度测量接触力。该传感器可以嵌入软物体和曲面上，用于智能家具、交互式电子产品和通用机器人应用。该传感器采用气动换能原理，实现了高灵敏度和冲击载荷耐受性。发展的动力是消费电子行业对智能家具和互动玩具的需求。目前的工作填补了现有软体触摸传感器的空白。传感器主体是完全聚合的，不包含导电或半导体材料元件。它表现出高通频率响应以抑制共模接触力或形状变化。本文解决的中心问题是该传感器在正常和冲击接触力下的动态行为。在这项研究中，我们开发了传感器输出的理论模型，并通过实验测量进行了验证。我们在不同卸载速度的两种操作方式下对传感器行为进行了建模。根据变化率，传感器可以处于力限制松弛模式或弹性松弛（自由松弛）模式。已执行测量以捕获智能坐垫应用中乘员行为的时间常数。传感器可以处于力限制松弛模式或弹性松弛（自由松弛）模式。已执行测量以捕获智能坐垫应用中乘员行为的时间常数。传感器可以处于力限制松弛模式或弹性松弛（自由松弛）模式。已执行测量以捕获智能坐垫应用中乘员行为的时间常数。