A Flexible Low-Power 130 nm CMOS Read-Out Circuit With Tunable Sensitivity for Commercial Robotic Resistive Pressure Sensors

Abstract

This paper presents a flexible and low-power Read-Out Circuit (ROC) with tunable sensitivity, designed to interface a wide range of commercial resistive pressure sensors for robotic applications. The ROC provides contact detection, monitoring small capacitance variations at low pressure ( $428\times 159~\mu \text{m}^{2}$ ) has a power consumption of 27.2 $\mu \text{W}$ , for $V_{\mathrm {DD}}~1$ V. Using digital control inputs, the ROC allows a wide range tuning of measurement sensitivity (6.7–46.4 mbar/LSB) and adjustable acquisition time (226.6–461.7 $\mu \text{s}$ and 648–890 $\mu \text{s}$ , for contact detection and pressure evaluation, respectively). The read-out time of $\sim 1$ ms is compatible with human response after touch.