Low cost, easily manufactured, highly flexible strain and touch sensitive fiber for robotics applications

Published June 12, 2026 · Category: Robotics

Overview

arXiv:2606.13352v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Existing stretch and touch sensors for robots are generally expensive with respect to at least one of material costs, required manufacturing equipment, or manufacturing time. We present and experimentally characterize a conductive fiber made using only inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf parts (conductive thread at $0.07/ft, silicone tubing at $0.94/ft) and tools (loop-style needle threader at $2), which can be manufactured quickly (20 cm length in 2 minutes.) We demonstrate its use as a resistive strain sensor with three applications: Triggering a grasp in a pneumatically actuated assistive finger, sensing the pose of a pneumatically actuated robotic strap, and estimating the pose of a flexible solid. We also demonstrate that it can be used as a capacitive sensor with two applications: First, as a touch sensor which triggers a commercial robot arm to move, and second, as a near-field sensor enabling the robot arm to follow a moving hand. The capacitive sensors are knitted, showcasing the high flexibility of the fiber. We discuss methods for improving manufacturing scalability and their cost trade-offs. Finally, we demonstrate a method for repairing a cut fiber.

Source

Originally published at arxiv.org.

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