Proprioceptive multistable mechanical metamaterial via soft capacitive sensors

Abstract: The technological transition from soft machines to soft robots necessarily passes through the integration of soft electronics and sensors. This allows for the establishment of feedback control systems while preserving the softness of the robot embodiment. Multistable mechanical metamaterials are excellent building blocks of soft machines, as their nonlinear response can be tuned by design to accomplish several functions. In this work, we present the integration of soft capacitive sensors in a multistable mechanical metamaterial, to enable proprioceptive sensing of state changes. The metamaterial is a periodic arrangement of 4 bistable unit cells. Each unit cell has an integrated capacitive sensor. Both the metastructure and the sensors are made of soft materials (TPU) and are 3D printed. Our preliminary results show that the capacitance variation of the sensors can be linked to state transitions of the metamaterial, by capturing the nonlinear deformation.