摘要
This study established a stepwise method to distinguish and decouple individual contributions of structural rigidity and material properties (in terms of effective Young's modulus and effective relative permittivity) to the performance of polymeric capacitive tactile sensors (CTS). A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with porous structure was introduced to reduce the effective Young's modulus (effective Young's modulus modulation) as the first variation, while barium titanate nanoparticles were mixed into an adhesive resin in the CTS, serving as the second variation (relative permittivity modulation). Through simulation and experimental analyses, this study not only scientifically quantified individual contributions of the abovementioned factors but also provided a predictive solution, allowing for CTS characteristic evaluation and design optimization. The developed CTS achieved a normal force sensitivity of 1.670 pF/N, representing a 2.15-fold performance compared to that collected from the control group (PDMS without modulation). Furthermore, the CTS accurately identified 3-D shear forces (with detection sensitivity of 0.505 pF/N) and shear angles (with averaged tolerance better than 3.843°). These results highlighted the importance of understanding individual factor contributions when multiple parameters are conflicting with each other.