Novel fabric pressure sensors: design, fabrication, and characterization

Soft and pliable pressure sensors are essential elements in wearable electronics which have wide applications in modern daily lives. This paper presents a family of fabric pressure sensors made by sandwiching a piece of resistive fabric strain sensing element between two tooth-structured layers of soft elastomers. The pressure sensors are capable of measuring pressure from 0 to 2000 kPa, covering the whole range of human-machine interactions. A pressure sensitivity of up to 2.98 x 10(-3) kPa(-1) was obtained. Theoretical modeling was conducted based on an energy method to predict the load-displacement relationship for various sensor configurations. By adjusting the Young's modulus of the two conversion layers, as well as the geometrical dimensions, the measurement ranges, and sensitivities of the sensors can be quantitatively determined. The sensors are being used for pressure measurements between the human body and garments, shoes, beds, and chairs.