The Feel of MEMS Barometers: Inexpensive and Easily Customized Tactile Array Sensors

This article presents a new approach to the construction of tactile array sensors based on barometric pressure sensor chips and standard printed circuit boards (PCBs). The chips include tightly integrated instrumentation amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters, pressure and temperature sensors, and control circuitry that provides excellent signal quality over standard digital bus interfaces. The resulting array electronics can be easily encapsulated with soft polymers to provide robust and compliant grasping surfaces for specific hand designs. The use of standard commercial off-the-shelf technologies means that only basic electrical and mechanical skills are required to build effective tactile sensors for new applications. The performance evaluation of prototype arrays demonstrates excellent linearity (typically <1%) and low noise (