Silicon-based CMOS Stress Sensors for Tactile Perception based Smart Skin for Prostheses

There is a growing interest in research related to smart prostheses and exoskeletons for people with muscular disabilities. The goal is to improve their quality of life and allow them to regain some agency over their movements. One of the most critical components in developing any "human-like" electronic skin is its ability to detect force and use it to emulate a touch. This paper presents a fully integrated CMOS-based stress sensor with a high dynamic range (100 kPa to 100 MPa). The designed sensor chip consumes an analog current of ~267 μA in simulations and only takes 10.2 ms for one operation cycle. Moreover, the complete design is CMOS-based, making it easy to manufacture using well-established traditional fabrication techniques. These advantages will help make the sensors easy to commercialize and thus more affordable for the affected patients in the long run.