• pressure sensor
• transparent
• shape-independent
• soft
• Electronic skin

The present Master’s Thesis investigates a continuum polymer waveguide sensor for a 2D artificial skin. At first, mechanical simulations have been conducted to test different compositions of PDMS to relate their stiffnesses to the ranges of performance that can be achieved by using them as substrate. Infrared photodiodes and photoreceptors have been chosen and assembled in a PCB to detect the changes on the surface of the sensor. The response to different stimuli on different substrates has been tested in a opto-mechanical simulation to find the best composition of the skin, which has been produced in a controlled process.
Secondarily, some insights for approaches to map the output of the photodetectors into a pressure map have been explained, with the aim of obtaining a measurement which has to be independent on the spatial configuration of the detectors and, thus, on the shape of the skin.
The advantages of this technology are the absence of electronics in the sensing area and the insensitivity to the environment. Possible applications concern coatings for MIS tools and stretchable robots (e.g. inchworm-like, manipulators) working in an electrically or magnetically corrupted environment or having the need to come in contact with water or dust.