Stress sensors using soft-MEMS

ESR10

Objectives

To develop stress sensors based on novel soft-MEMS approach critical to detect tactile information. The focus is on arrays of solid-state force/pressure sensors embedded in PDMS. The piezoresistive sensor will consist of five cantilever type sensing elements connected in a Wheatstone bridge configuration to measure stress and shear forces. The stress will be a direct consequence of the membrane deflection in response to an applied pressure. The design of a membrane stress sensor involves working on the thickness, geometrical dimensions of membrane, and positioning of piezo resistors on membrane to achieve optimum sensitivity. These will be investigated together with the quantitative analysis of the force distribution. 

Expected Results

Cantilever based sensors embedded in soft substrates, capable of detecting shear force and slip.

Placement

Host institution: Fondazione Bruno Kessler

Enrolments (in Doctoral degree): University of Glasgow

Supervisors

Leandro Lorenzelli, Ravinder Dahiya

Presentation of ESR10

My name is Inci Rüya TEMEL and I am from France. My research topics are sensors & micro and nanotechnologies. I have a BCs in Life Sciences from Sorbonne Université 2017 and a MCs in Health Devices Engineering 2019. My research interests are the will to understanding how the mysteriousness of the human brain resulted in such complex living systems. It arose early during my childhood. My studies have been driven by my fascination of the human brain and its functioning. I had the opportunity to study the neural system’s physiology in detail during my bachelor’s degree. Then I decided to move to the engineering aspect of neurosciences and worked on human motor control theories and models during my Master’s thesis. Now, I want to give robots and prosthesis tactile feedback so that I can develop new theories about human motor control. Developing new neuro-rehabilitation techniques was always part of my long term plan, and I oriented my academic career for this purpose