A tactile sensing textile with bending-independent pressure perception and spatial acuity

The integration of tactile sensor into textile is a promising strategy to address the requirements of light weight, flexibility, compilability and breathability in the next-generation wearable electronics. However, achieving reliable and accurate tactile perception remains difficult for sensing textiles as the quantitative measurements are interfered by geometric deformations and the spatial resolutions are disturbed by the adjacent pixels. Here, we overcome the above challenges by designing helically swollen architecture in core-sheath fibers for tactile sensing textiles (TSTs) that show bending-independent pressure perception and spatial acuity. The building fibers can accurately detect pressure under different radii of curvature and recognize touching positions, so the TSTs can precisely map the surface pressure distribution during deformation. As a demonstration, they are integrated into a smart glove as an accurate tactile monitor and human-machine interface. It will help to improve the reliability and accuracy in the practical development of wearable electronics and smart textiles. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.