Author(s)

Masato Ohmukai, Yasushi Kami

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Akashi College of Technology, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan.

Compressive force sensors or pressure sensors are indispensable to tactile sensors in humanoid robots. It is investigated that low-cost electro-conducting rubber sheets are applied to the force sensor, of which the biggest problem is its poor reproducibility. It was found that the aluminum deposition by a vacuum evaporation method shows excellent characteristics but suffers deterioration by a radiation heating effect. The aluminum electrode was deposited by a sputtering method, known to have an advantage of a low-temperature method, and the reproducibility of the output was improved.

Conducting Rubber, Force Sensor, Electrode, Magnetron Sputtering, Reproducibility

Ohmukai, M. and Kami, Y. (2016) A Sputtering Deposition of Al Enhances the Output Reproducibility in a Conducting Rubber Force Sensor. Journal of Sensor Technology, 6, 46-55. doi: 10.4236/jst.2016.63004.