• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.682-688
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• 2000

To improve the performance of a flexible robot arm one of the important things is the vibration displacement measurement of a flexible arm. Many types of sensors have been used to measure it, The most popular has been strain gauges which measures the deflection of the beam,. Photo sensors have also been for detecting beam displacement and accelerometers are often used to measure the beam vibration. But the vibration displacement can be obtained indirectly from these sensors. In this article a vision sensor is used as a displacement sensor to measure the vibration displacement of a flexible robot arm. Several schemes are proposed to reduce the image processing time and increase its accuracy. From the experimental results it is seen that the vision sensor can be an alternative sensor for measuring the vibration displacement and has a potential for on-line tip position control of flexible robot systems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.277.2-277.2
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• 2014

For next-generation electronic applications, human-machine interface devices have recently been demonstrated such as the wearable computer as well as the electronic skin (e-skin). For integration of those systems, it is essential to develop many kinds of components including displays, energy generators and sensors. In particular, flexible sensing devices to detect some stimuli like strain, pressure, light, temperature, gase and humidity have been investigated for last few decades. Among many condidates, a pressure sensing device based on organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) is one of interesting structure in flexible touch displays, bio-monitoring and e-skin because of their flexibility. In this study, we have investigated a flexible e-skin based on highly sensitive, pressure-responsive OFETs using microstructured ferroelectric gate dielectrics, which simulates both rapidly adapting (RA) and slowly adatping (SA) mechanoreceptors in human skin. In SA-type static pressure, furthermore, we also demonstrate that the FET array can detect thermal stimuli for thermoreception through decoupling of the input signals from simultaneously applied pressure. The microstructured highly crystalline poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) possessing piezoelectric-pyroelectric properties in OFETs allowed monitoring RA- and SA-mode responses in dyanamic and static pressurizing conditions, which enables to apply the e-skin to bio-monitoring of human and robotics.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.773-777
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• 2009

In this study, the strain sensing characteristics of single-wall carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs) networks were investigated to develop a film sensor for strain sensing. The SWCNTs film are formed on flexible substrates of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) using spray process. In this manner we could control the transparency and obtain excellent uniformity of the networked SWCNT film. The carbon nanotube film is isotropic due to randomly oriented bundles of SWCNTs. Using experimental results it is shown that there is a nearly linear change in resistance across the film when it is subjected to tensile stress. The results presented in this study indicate the potential of such films for high sensitive transparent strain sensors on macro scale.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.142-149
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• 2009

This paper proposes and demonstrates novel flexible contact force sensing devices for 3-dimensional force measurement. To realize the sensor, polyimide and polydimethylsiloxane are used as a substrate, which makes it flexible. Thin-film metal strain gauges, which are incorporated into the polymer, are used for measuring the three-dimensional contact forces. The force sensor characteristics are evaluated against normal and shear load. The fabricated force sensor can measure normal loads up to 4N. The sensor output signals are saturated against load over 4N. Shear loads can be detected by different voltage drops in strain gauges. The device has no fragile structures; therefore, it can be used as a ground reaction force sensor for balance control in humanoid robots. Four force sensors are assembled and placed in the four corners of the robot's sole. By increasing bump dimensions, the force sensor can measure load up to 20N. When loads are exerted on the sole, the ground reaction force can be measured by these four sensors. The measured forces can be used in the balance control of biped locomotion system.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.24.2-27
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• 1996

This paper is a study on the fuzzy force control of a miniature gripper driven by piezoelectric bimorph actuator. The system is composed of two flexible cantilevers, a stepping motor, a laser displacement transducer and two semiconductor force sensors attached to the beams. Obtained results show that the present artificial finger system works well as a miniature gripper, which produces approximately 0.06N force in the maximum. Further, the fuzzy position/force control algorithm is applied to the soft-handing gripper for stable grasping of a object. It revealed that the fuzzy rule-based controller be efficient controller for the stable drive of the flexible miniature gripper. It also showed that two semiconductor strain gauges located in the flexible beam play an important roles for force control, position control and vibration suppression control.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2024

Flexible electronic devices are exposed to repeated mechanical deformation; therefore, electrode performance is an important element. Recently, a new technology has been developed to improve the adhesion strength between polymer substrates and metal thin films through the cross-linking reaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) bioconjugation proteins; however, additional performance evaluation as an electrode is necessary. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of adhesive strength between a flexible substrate and a metal thin film on the performance of a flexible electrode. Cracks and changes in the electrical resistance of the electrode surface were observed through outer bending fatigue tests and tensile tests. As a result of a bending fatigue test of 50,000 cycles and a tensile test at 10% strain, the change in the electrical resistance of the flexible electrode with a high adhesion strength was less than 40%, and only a few microcracks were formed on the surface; thus, the electrical performance did not significantly deteriorate. Through this study, the relationship between the adhesion strength and electrical performance was identified. This study will provide useful information for analyzing the performance of flexible electrodes in the commercialization of flexible electronic devices in the future.

• Vacuum Magazine
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.17-20
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• 2016

Piezoelectric nanogenerators are energy harvesting device to convert a mechanical energy into an electric energy using nanostructured piezoelectric materials. This review summarizes works to date on piezoelectric nanogenerators, starting with a basic theory of piezoelectricity and working mechanism, and moving through the reports of numerous nanogenerators using nanorod arrays, flexible substrates and alternative materials. A sufficient power generated from nanogenerators suggests feasible applications for either power supplies or strain sensors of highly integratedl nano devices. Further development of nanogenerators holds promise for the development of self-powered implantable and wearable electronics.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.205-215
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• 2019

A flexible polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite prototype with high piezoelectricity and force sensitivity was constructed, and its huge potential for applications such as biomechanical energy harvesting, self-powered health monitoring system, and pressure sensors was proved. The crystallization, piezoelectric, and electrical properties of the composites were characterized using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiment and customized experimental setups. The composite can sustain up to 100% strain, which is a huge improvement over monolithic PVDF fibers and other PVDF-based composites in the literature. The Young's modulus is 1.64 MPa, which is closely matched with the flexibility of the human skin, and shows the possibility for integrating PVDF/PDMS composites into wearable devices and implantable medical devices. The $300{\mu}m$ thick composite has a 14% volume fraction of PVDF fibers and produces high piezoelectricity with piezoelectric charge constants $d_{31}=19pC/N$ and $d_{33}=34pC/N$, and piezoelectric voltage constants $g_{31}=33.9mV/N$ and $g_{33}=61.2mV/N$. Under a 10 Hz actuation, the output voltage was measured at 190 mVpp, which is the largest output signal generated from a PVDF fiber-based prototype.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.491-491
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• 2011

Transparent and flexible electronic devices that are light-weight, unbreakable, low power consumption, optically transparent, and mechanical flexible possibly have great potential in new applications of digital gadgets. Potential applications include transparent displays, heads-up display, sensor, and artificial skin. Recent reports on transparent and flexible field-effect transistors (tf-FETs) have focused on improving mechanical properties, optical transmittance, and performances. Most of tf-FET devices were fabricated with transparent oxide semiconductors which mechanical flexibility is limited. And, there have been no reports of transparent and flexible all-organic tf-FETs fabricated with organic semiconductor channel, gate dielectric, gate electrode, source/drain electrode, and encapsulation for sensor applications. We present the first demonstration of transparent, flexible all-organic sensor based on multifunctional organic FETs with organic semiconductor channel, gate dielectric, and electrodes having a capability of sensing infrared (IR) radiation and mechanical strain. The key component of our device design is to integrate the poly(vinylidene fluoride-triflouroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE) co-polymer directly into transparent and flexible OFETs as a multi-functional dielectric layer, which has both piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. The P(VDF-TrFE) co-polumer gate dielectric has a high sensitivity to the wavelength regime over 800 nm. In particular, wavelength variations of P(VDF-TrFE) molecules coincide with wavelength range of IR radiation from human body (7000 nm ~14000 nm) so that the devices are highly sensitive with IR radiation of human body. Devices were examined by measuring IR light response at different powers. After that, we continued to measure IR response under various bending radius. AC (alternating current) gate biasing method was used to separate the response of direct pyroelectric gate dielectric and other electrical parameters such as mobility, capacitance, and contact resistance. Experiment results demonstrate that the tf-OTFT with high sensitivity to IR radiation can be applied for IR sensors.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.11-20
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• 2020

With the widespread use of high-performance electronics and mobile communications, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding has become crucial for protection against malfunctioning of electronic equipment and harmful effects to human health. In addition, smart sensor technologies will be rapidly developed in untact (non-contact) environments and personal healthcare fields. Herein, we introduce our recently developed technologies for flexible multifunctional EMI shielding, and highly sensitive wearable pressure-strain and humidity sensors realized using low-dimensional nanomaterials.