Capacitive Force Sensor Fabricated in Additive Technology

In this paper a simple capacitive sensor for measuring force is presented. The sensor consists of three parts: the casing with the bottom electrode, the flexible central part and the upper plate with the electrode. An additive 3D printing technology with PLA and silver conductive ink are used for the fabrication of sensor. In order to provide a good sensitivity of the sensor to the applied force a silicone rubber is used as the central part between the electrodes. Dielectric properties of used silicone rubber are determined; the designed sensor is fabricated, and testing of the sensor is performed. The measurement results are shown and confirmed that designed sensor is suitable for the force measurements up to 4 N The measured sensitivity of the sensor is 0.3 pFIN in the measurement range from 0.5 N up to 3.5 N.