Stick-on Large-Strain Sensors for Soft Robots

Soft robots require sensors that are soft, stretchable, and conformable to preserve their adaptivity and safety. This technology provides “stick-on” large-strain sensors for soft robots and enables novel functionality for wearable robots, serving as a “sensing skin” through stimuli-responsive hydrogels.

This technology separates the construction of the soft robot’s structure and sensors, expanding the potential design space for soft robots that require integrated sensing. The sensor exhibits exceptional electrical and mechanical properties: it can sense strains exceeding 400% without damage, maintain stable performance after 1500 loading cycles, and has a working bandwidth of at least 10 Hz, which is sufficient for rapidly-actuated soft robots.

Applications

The hydrogel sensors technology can be adapted to wearable robots to detect physiological properties such as temperature-, ion-, and gas-activated responses. This technology provides a simple, novel alternative to constructing soft sensors for numerous applications in soft robotic

Intellectual Property Status: Patent(s) Pending

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