The excellent compliance and large range of motion of soft actuators controlled by fluid\npressure has lead to strong interest in applying devices of this type for biomimetic and human-robot\ninteraction applications. However, in contrast to soft actuators fabricated from stretchable silicone\nmaterials, conventional technologies for position sensing are typically rigid or bulky and are not ideal\nfor integration into soft robotic devices. Therefore, in order to facilitate the use of soft pneumatic\nactuators in applications where position sensing or closed loop control is required, a soft pneumatic\nbending actuator with an integrated carbon nanotube position sensor has been developed. The\nintegrated carbon nanotube position sensor presented in this work is flexible and well suited to\nmeasuring the large displacements frequently encountered in soft robotics. The sensor is produced by\na simple soft lithography process during the fabrication of the soft pneumatic actuator, with a greater\nthan 30% resistance change between the relaxed state and the maximum displacement position. It is\nanticipated that integrated resistive position sensors using a similar design will be useful in a wide\nrange of soft robotic systems.
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