PIEZOELECTRIC PARTICLE-REINFORCED POLYURETHANE FOR TACTILE SENSING ROBOT SKIN

This paper presents a new tactile sensing method using the piezoelectric polyurethane as a robot skin material. BaTiO3 nanoparticles were introduced into polyurethane to improve its piezoelectric properties with only small changes in its hardness. Plate-type specimens of polyurethane with 1.0 wt.% BaTiO3 nanoparticles and mesh-type copper electrodes were manufactured for evaluating the tactile sensing ability of the composite material by foreign object drop tests. The measured electric charge signals varied proportionally to the distance and magnitude of external impact loads. Therefore, it is concluded that the self-sensor-type tactile sensing technology suggested is feasible for service robots.