Proximity and Force Characteristics of CMC Touch Sensor with Square/Dome-shaped Sensor Elements

Abstract

A tactile sensor called Carbon Micro Coil (CMC) touch sensor was developed by CMC Technology Development Co., Ltd. The sensor's elements used in the experiments of this paper are made of silicon rubber containing CMCs several micrometers in diameter. One of the elements is molded into a square 30 mm on a side and 3 mm thick; the other is a dome 16 mm in diameter and 2 mm height. CMCs in the sensor element contribute to the electrical conductivity and the sensor element is considered to constitute an LCR circuit. When an object approaches to the sensor element or the sensor element is deformed mechanically, the impedance changes, and the CMC sensor detects the impedance changes by measuring the modulation of amplitude and phase of an input excitation signal to the sensor element. The CMC sensor also creates voltage signals of the R- and LC-components separately according to the amplitude and phase modulation. In this paper, the characteristics of the CMC sensor with respect to its proximity and force senses are investigated. First, the output of the CMC sensor with the square-shaped sensor element is measured when an object approaches to the sensor element. Next, the output of the CMC sensor with the dome-shaped sensor element is measured when fine deformations of 1 to 5 μm are applied to the sensor element under variable compression force. The results suggest that the CMC sensor can measure the force variance applied to the sensor element as well as the distance between the sensor element and an object.