Study and fabrication of flexible triboelectric pulse tactile sensor based on laser-induced graphene

In the past, tactile sensors were rigid and difficult to integrate with flexible devices. Recently, flexible triboelectric tactile sensors have attracted widespread attention. The flexibility of these triboelectric tactile sensors makes them suitable for various applications across different fields such as patient monitoring and human-machine interaction. In this study, a flexible triboelectric pulse tactile sensor was proposed and developed. It is constructured from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bump, PDMS spacer and laser-induced graphene (LIG) electrode. The PDMS bump was used as the force conversion structure and the PDMS spacer was used as the fixed end and contact with the PDMS bump layer. The LIG was used as a triboelectric electrode. When an external force is applied to the PDMS bump, the PDMS bump layer makes contact with the LIG electrode and generates triboelectric voltage. Finally, the proposed tactile sensor integrated with a mechanical gripper for fruit grasping was demonstrated.