Event
Robotics Graduate Student Seminar: Hee-Sup Shin, 'Soft Microfabricated Capacitive Sensor'
Thursday, September 29, 2016
3:00 p.m.
1146 AV Williams Building
Ryan St. Pierre
301 405 4358
rrstpierre@gmail.com
Robotics Graduate Student Seminars
A Soft Microfabricated Capacitive Sensor for High Dynamic Range Strain Sensing
Hee-Sup Shin
PhD candidate in mechanical engineering
PhD candidate in mechanical engineering
Advisor: Sarah Bergbreiter
Abstract
This work demonstrates an all-elastomer MEMS capacitive strain sensor with high dynamic range (5000:1), and features an inexpensive molding microfabrication process. The sensor is comprised of conductive elastometric comb capacitors embedded in a dielectric. Two different sensor designs, lateral combs (LC) and transverse combs (TC), were developed to evaluate sensor sensitivity as a function of load orientation. Both sensors have combs with a gap of 30 μm, length of 4 mm, and depth of 65 μm. A linear elastic analytical model was developed to predict change in capacitance as a function of strain, and experimental results show a reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions. The observed strain responses have high linearity and dynamic range, and negligible hysteresis. The strain resolution of the LC and TC sensors is 100 μstrain and 500 μstrain, respectively, tested up to 50% strain.
This work demonstrates an all-elastomer MEMS capacitive strain sensor with high dynamic range (5000:1), and features an inexpensive molding microfabrication process. The sensor is comprised of conductive elastometric comb capacitors embedded in a dielectric. Two different sensor designs, lateral combs (LC) and transverse combs (TC), were developed to evaluate sensor sensitivity as a function of load orientation. Both sensors have combs with a gap of 30 μm, length of 4 mm, and depth of 65 μm. A linear elastic analytical model was developed to predict change in capacitance as a function of strain, and experimental results show a reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions. The observed strain responses have high linearity and dynamic range, and negligible hysteresis. The strain resolution of the LC and TC sensors is 100 μstrain and 500 μstrain, respectively, tested up to 50% strain.
About the Robotics Graduate Student Seminars
The Robotics Graduate Student Seminars at the University of Maryland College Park are a student-run series of talks given by current graduate students.
The purpose of these talks is to:
- Encourage interaction between Robotics students from different subfields;
- Provide an opportunity for Robotics students to be aware of and possibly get involved in the research their peers are conducting;
- Provide an opportunity for Robotics students to receive feedback on their current research;
- Provide speaking opportunities for Robotics students.
