PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

MEMS-based barometers have been successfully used to implement tactile sensor arrays. However, aiming for high spatial resolution, interesting in robotics e.g., for corner, surface or shape detection, they suffer from significant signal hysteresis and drift. The present paper introduces a new technique to overcome these limitations, especially when implementing digital barometers with very small package dimensions. The evaluation reveals that our method results in a force sensing tactile cell with superior temperature stability, high sensitivity, remarkably low hysteresis and almost perfect linearity. We show that using the new technique, we can create high density tactile sensors with integrated signal digitization and performance close to that of a strain-gauge. In addition, we present our late-breaking work on a high spatial resolution, barometer-based tactile sensor matrix using our enhanced sensor cells with an inter-cell spacing of just 2.2 mm, resulting in over 20 tactile cells per cm².