22456 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 22, NO.

23, 1 DECEMBER 2022

Flexible Printed Circuit Board Strain Sensor

Embedded in a Miniaturized
Pneumatic Finger
Yi-Chun Chuang , Tun-Yi Cheng, and Yao-Chuan Tsai

Abstract —A miniaturized pneumatic finger allows for safer

grasping without damaging the surface of an object. A flexible
strain sensor was developed and embedded in a miniaturized
pneumatic finger to sense the finger’s self-deformation as a
feedback control signal. The proposed flexible strain sensor
comprised a Zr-based metallic glass sensing material and a
flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) substrate. The properties
of fabricated strain sensors with different patterns and with
metallic glass thin films of different thicknesses were mea-
sured. The miniaturized pneumatic finger was fabricated from
a highly elastic polymer by demolding. To integrate the flexible
strain sensor and the miniaturized pneumatic finger, surface
treatment was performed to improve the bonding strength.
Measurements of the contact angle and peel-off force reveal
that the treated surfaces have lower contact angles and higher
bonding strength. This higher bonding strength between the
flexible strain sensor and the miniaturized pneumatic finger
prevented the destruction of the finger during bending. The developed flexible strain sensor embedded in the miniaturized
pneumatic finger could sense the finger’s self-deformation by measuring changes in resistance.
Index Terms — Flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), flexible strain sensor, metallic glass, miniaturized pneumatic finger,
surface treatment.

I. I NTRODUCTION robotics. The dielectric elastomers could be deformed to excite

O VER the past few decades, robotic systems have increas-
ingly replaced human beings in various tasks. With
further technological developments, various driving methods
for these robot systems have been proposed. Some research
groups have used shape memory alloy (SMA), a material that
can be deformed and returned to its original state by changing
its temperature, in robots to achieve bent deformation [1],
[2], [3]. The robot systems of some research groups have
been powered by the explosive combustion of an inflammable
gas with oxygen; this explosion causes expansion that triggers
rapid jumping or bending motions [4], [5]. An electroactive
material, dielectric elastomers, was proposed for use in soft
Manuscript received 30 April 2022; revised 26 September 2022;
accepted 16 October 2022. Date of publication 27 October 2022; date of
current version 30 November 2022. This work was supported in part by
the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under Grant 110-2313-
B-005-028-MY3 and Grant 110-2813-C-005-114-E. The associate editor
coordinating the review of this article and approving it for publication was
Prof. Stefan J. Rupitsch. (Corresponding author: Yao-Chuan Tsai.)
The authors are with the Department of Bio-Industrial Mecha-
tronics Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402,
Taiwan (e-mail: eddy131434@gmail.com; leontunyi@yahoo.com.tw;
yctsaii@dragon.nchu.edu.tw).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSEN.2022.3216278
1558-1748 © 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
the soft robotics by applying a voltage to two electrodes [6],
[7], [8]. Some materials that respond to light stimuli were
also proposed for use in soft robotics [9], [10], [11]. Soft
robotic devices could be controlled by changing the wave-
length and intensity of light without configuring a wire or
electrode. In addition, multiresponsive soft actuators excited
by various sources, such as heat, humidity, light, and different
pH substances, were developed [12], [13], [14], [15]. Pressure
can also be used to drive soft robots through pneumatic
actuation or vacuum actuation [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21].
Pneumatic actuation is commonly used due to its excellent
performance in terms of total payload [22]. Moreover, the
use of pneumatic actuation in soft robotics is increasing
because pneumatic robots are inherently safe, inexpensive,
customizable, and easy to fabricate [23], [24].
Sensor integration is key to achieving safe robot sys-
tems that boast a comprehensive range of functions. For
pneumatic robots, flexible sensors are superior to static sen-
sors for integration. Various flexible sensors have been pro-
posed and developed, such as flexible piezoelectric sensors
that can respond to external stress [25], [26]. If external
stress is applied to a piezoelectric material, a voltage signal
corresponding to the stress is produced. Stretchable pH sensors

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CHUANG et al.: FPCB STRAIN SENSOR EMBEDDED IN A MINIATURIZED PNEUMATIC FINGER 22457

Fig. 1. Proposed miniaturized pneumatic finger and integrated FPCB Fig. 2. Proposed flexible strain sensor, made of a thin film of Zr-based
strain sensor. metallic glass, on an FPCB.

that could be attached to an object’s surface to measure pH

have also been proposed [27], [28]. Flexible strain sensors can
also be used to continually record motion and health data [29],
[30], [31], [32], [33]. External strain changes can also be
estimated from flexible strain sensors. Some proposed flexible
strain sensors have been integrated within soft robotic grippers
to provide feedback control signals [34], [35], [36].
The performance of a flexible strain sensor is related
to the properties of the sensing material and its structural
design. Various materials have been proposed for flexible
strain sensors, such as liquid metal [37], [38], laser-induced
graphene [39], [40], and metallic-glass thin films [41], [42].
Metallic glass with an amorphous structure has excellent
mechanical properties, such as high hardness, high conduc-
tivity, and low resistance. Moreover, as a flexible strain sensor
material, metallic glass thin films have high linearity, excellent
stability, and a low-temperature coefficient of resistance.
In this work, a flexible strain sensor was developed and
embedded in a miniaturized pneumatic finger (Fig. 1). The
Fig. 3. Schematic of the designed FPCB for (a) single and (b) dual
proposed flexible strain sensor was fabricated by sputtering metallic-glass thin film patterns. (c) Cross-section of the FPCB.
Zr-based metallic glass sensing material on a flexible printed
circuit board (FPCB) substrate. The material of the pneumatic strain, the electrical resistance changes due to the piezoelectric
finger body was a hyperelastic polymer, and it was produced effect. The electrical resistance change ratio (R/R0 ) can be
with a demolding process. To integrate the FPCB strain sensor expressed as follows [43]:
and pneumatic finger body, different surface treatments were
R ρ l A
performed to improve the bond strength between the two = + − . (2)
surfaces. The application of air pressure to the designed R0 ρ0 l0 A0
air channel and expansion chambers in the figure resulted Here, R is the electrical resistance, ρ is the metallic glass
in bending deformation. This bending deformation could be resistivity, l is the metallic-glass thin film length, and A is
sensed by the embedded FPCB strain sensor. the metallic-glass thin film cross-sectional area. Variables with
subscripted zero indicate the initial values before the bending
II. M ETHODS deformation. The sensitivity of the FPCB strain sensor, the
gauge factor (G.F.), can be expressed as follows:
A. Principle of FPCB Strain Sensor
The proposed flexible strain sensor comprises a Zr-based R/R0
G.F. = . (3)
metallic glass thin film on an FPCB substrate (Fig. 2). The εx
strain sensor bonds with the pneumatic finger to sense bending The gauge factor is a key indicator of the performance of
deformation. When the finger is in the bent state, the tensile the strain sensor. Higher gauge factor values indicate that the
strain (εx ) of the Zr-based metallic-glass thin film can be strain sensor has higher sensitivity to applied strain.
expressed as follows:
B. Fabrication of the FPCB Strain Sensor
ydθ ydθ y
εx = = = . (1) The flexible strain sensor was fabricated by sputtering
dx r dθ r Zr-based metallic-glass thin film on the FPCB substrate.
Here, y is the distance from the neutral axis to the Fig. 3(a) and (b) presents schematics of the two design FPCBs
Zr-based metallic-glass thin film, and r is the radius of with single and dual, respectively, metallic-glass thin film
curvature. When the Zr-based metallic-glass thin film is under patterns; Fig. 3 also displays their dimensions. The FPCB with

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22458
Fig. 4. Fabrication process of the FPCB strain sensor. (a) Fabricated
FPCB. (b) PI tape shadow mask on the FPCB. (c) Zr-based metallic-glass
thin film deposited on the target area. (d) Removal of the PI shadow mask.
the dual metallic-glass thin film pattern has a smaller metallic-
glass thin film cross-sectional area and a longer metallic-glass
thin film length. In theory, the FPCB strain sensor with the
dual metallic-glass thin film pattern has a higher gauge factor.
The FPCB used in this work comprised a polyimide (PI)
substrate, adhesive layer, copper conductive layer, and cover
PI layer. Due to the FPCB’s excellent flexibility, it has been
integrated into numerous electrical devices. A cross-section
and the dimensions of the FPCB are presented in Fig. 3(c).
The PI substrate, copper conductive layer, and PI cover layer
patterns were designed using AutoCAD, a computer-aided
design software. The FPCB was then fabricated at a factory
(Flying International, New Taipei, Taiwan).
A Zr-based metallic-glass thin film was employed; it was
deposited on the FPCB substrate as a piezoresistive material
for sensing bending strain. The fabrication process for the
proposed FPCB strain sensor is presented in Fig. 4. First, the
designed and fabricated FPCB was prepared as presented in
Fig. 4(a). PI tape with 0.06 mm thickness (Kapton, DuPont,
Wilmington, DE, USA) on Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)
substrate was then patterned with a laser cutting machine
(LaserPro Venus II, GCC, New Taipei, Taiwan). The parame-
ters of the laser cutting machine are as follows: resolution
of 400 dpi, cutting velocity of 3 cm/s, and laser power
of 4 W. The patterned PI tape was then taken from the PMMA
substrate and adhered to the FPCB substrate as a shadow mask,
as displayed in Fig. 4(b). The Zr-based metallic-glass thin
film was deposited by sputtering, as shown in Fig. 4(c). The
sputtering target was a Zr-based alloy comprising 55 at% Zr,
30 at% Cu, 10 at% Al, and 5 at% Ni. The working pressure and
radio frequency power were set to 2 × 10−2 torr and 100 W,
respectively. To avoid damage due to high temperature during
the sputtering process, each sputtering cycle involved 100 s of
sputtering followed by 600 s of cooling. To determine the
effect of the thickness of the sputtered layer on the strain
sensor performance, three, four, or five sputtering cycles were
conducted to deposit Zr-based metallic-glass thin films with
thicknesses 70, 90, and 110 nm on FPCB substrates. After
sputtering, the PI shadow mask was removed from the FPCB
to complete the FPCB strain sensor, as presented in Fig. 4(d).
C. Surface Treatment
The FPCB strain sensor and the pneumatic finger body were
integrated to produce the proposed miniaturized pneumatic
finger. A hyperelastic polymer material (Ecoflex 0030,
Smooth-On, USA) was used as the primary material for the
miniaturized pneumatic finger because it can tolerate greater
strain. The bonding strength between the FPCB strain sensor
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IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 22, NO. 23, 1 DECEMBER 2022
Fig. 5. Surface treatment fabrication process. (a) Soaking the FPCB
strain sensor in APTES solution to form a silylated layer. (b) Drying the
wet FPCB strain sensor and treating plasma to form functional groups.
(c) Air plasma treatment on the Ecoflex surface. (d) Bonding the two
surfaces.
Fig. 6. Schematic of the proposed miniaturized pneumatic finger.
and the Ecoflex finger body is crucial for performance. If the
bonding strength is insufficient, the interface between the
FPCB strain sensor and the Ecoflex finger body separates dur-
ing finger deformation, resulting in finger damage. Moreover,
insufficient bonding strength would also reduce the accuracy of
the FPCB strain sensor measurements. Therefore, improving
the bonding strength between the FPCB strain sensor and the
Ecoflex finger body during the fabrication process is necessary.
Two surface treatment methods were performed for the
PI and Ecoflex surfaces. For the PI surface, the surface
treatment method process was a chemical modification by
(3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) and air plasma treat-
ment. The FPCB substrate was soaked in 5% APTES solution
at 70 ◦ C for 1 h. After the APTES chemical modification
process, a silylated layer formed on the PI surface [Fig. 5(a)].
An air plasma treatment was performed for chemical func-
tionalization [Fig. 5(b)]. For the Ecoflex surface, air plasma
treatment was performed at 10.5 W for 5 min for surface func-
tionalization [Fig. 5(c)]. The two surfaces were then bonded at
room temperature [Fig. 5(d)]. The functional groups enhance
the bonding strength at the interface of the FPCB and Ecoflex.
D. Design and Integration Fabrication of Pneumatic
Finger
The miniaturized pneumatic finger comprises an air channel
and three expansion chambers within the Ecoflex finger’s main
body. Fig. 6 presents a schematic of the pneumatic finger with
its dimensions. The dimensions of the air channel are 26.5 mm
in length, 1.5 mm in width, and 1.5 mm in height. The
three chambers have an identical width and height of 1.5 and
0.5 mm, respectively. The lengths of chambers 1, 2, and 3 are
CHUANG et al.: FPCB STRAIN SENSOR EMBEDDED IN A MINIATURIZED PNEUMATIC FINGER
Fig. 7. Fabrication of the miniaturized pneumatic finger and its integration
with the FPCB strain sensor: (a) the Ecoflex finger body was formed by
demolding. (b) FPCB strain sensor bonded with the finger body after
surface treatment. (c) FPCB strain sensor encapsulated by the finger
body. (d) Produced miniaturized pneumatic finger after release from the
mold.
2.0, 4.5, and 7.0 mm, respectively. The largest chamber is
located at the fixed end of the finger to achieve a larger bending
deformation. The wall thickness of each chamber is 0.5 mm.
The length, width, and height of the finger are 27.0, 7.0, and
6.0 mm. The gap width between the chambers is 0.5 mm.
The gaps between the chambers were designed to enhance the
linearity of the bending deformation [44]. When air is applied
to the air channel and chambers, the increase in air pressure
results in the expansion of the chambers, leading to bending
deformation.
The fabrication of the proposed miniaturized pneumatic
finger and its integration with the FPCB strain sensor is
presented in Fig. 7. First, Ecoflex solvent A and solvent B
were mixed at a 1:1 volume ratio and held under vacuum for
10 min to extract air bubbles from the solution. The solution
was then carefully poured into the 3-D printed molds carefully
and again held under a vacuum to remove any air bubbles in
the finger body [Fig. 7(a)]. The finger body was then cured
in the molds at room temperature for 24 h and was then
removed from the molds. The surface treatment process was
then performed on the fabricated FPCB strain sensor and the
Ecoflex finger body. The FPCB strain sensor was then bonded
to the Ecoflex finger body and encapsulated by Ecoflex in the
molds, as shown in Fig. 7(b) and (c). Finally, the miniaturized
pneumatic finger integrated with the FPCB strain sensor was
removed from the mold [Fig. 7(d)].
E. Experimental Setup
To determine the performance of the fabricated FPCB strain
sensor, an experimental setup for applying bending defor-
mation and measuring electrical resistance was designed and
constructed (Fig. 8). The FPCB strain sensor was affixed to a
3-D-printed curvature wedge to measure changes in electrical
resistance for different bending curvature deformations. Five
3-D-printed curvature wedges with curvatures of radiuses of
30.0, 27.5, 25.0, 22.5, and 20.0 mm were fabricated and used
to provide bending strains of 0.13%, 0.14%, 0.15%, 0.17%,
and 0.19%, respectively. Two electrode pads on the minia-
turized pneumatic finger were connected with a multimeter
(GDM-8261A, GW Instek, New Taipei, Taiwan) to record
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22459
Fig. 8. Experimental setup for measuring changes in the electrical
resistance of the FPCB strain sensor for bending deformations with
different curvatures.
the change in electrical resistance. A step motor (EAS2NX,
Oriental Motor, Taipei, Taiwan) was used to apply a bending
strain to the FPCB strain sensor. Thus, the electrical resistance
of the FPCB strain sensor would change in accordance with
different bending strains resulting from different curvature
wedges.
During the integration and fabrication process of the minia-
turized pneumatic finger, surface treatment is a key process
for increasing the performance and stability of the miniaturized
pneumatic finger. To quantitatively determine the improvement
in bonding strength due to the surface treatment, contact angle
measurements and peel-off tests were performed. Measure-
ments of the contact angle by examining the interface of a
liquid on a solid surface can be used to calculate the surface
free energy. Lower contact angles indicate higher surface free
energy and higher bonding strength. A video contact angle
measurement system (VCA optima, AST Products, Billerica,
MA, USA) was employed to measure the contact angle of
a deionized water drop on the treated FPCB and Ecoflex
substrate surfaces. Deionized water droplets of 1 μL were used
for each test. Contact angle measurements were performed five
times for each surface to determine the surface free energy.
In addition to the contact angle measurements, a peel-
off test was used to determine the bonding strength after
various surface treatments. Treated FPCB substrates were
bonded to 1-mm-thick Ecoflex films. A homemade peel-off
test system was used to measure the peel-off force of the
FPCB substrate and Ecoflex film (Fig. 9). The bonded sample
was affixed on a linked moving stage. One end edge of the
Ecoflex film was clamped and connected to a force gauge
(FGP-1, Nidec-Shimpo, Nagaokakyo, Japan) to record the
applied force. The force gauge was affixed to a moving
stage controlled by a step motor. When the force gauge was
moved upward, the clamped Ecoflex film was peeled off
of the FPCB substrate. The peel-off angle affects the peel-
off force; thus, the peel-off angle was maintained at 90◦
in accordance with the recommendations of the International
Organization for Standardization [45]. To maintain a peel-off
angle of 90◦ , a linked moving device was designed and used.
The FPCB substrate was affixed to a linked moving stage that
was connected to the step motor moving stage by a pulley
22460
Fig. 9. Peel-off test for measuring the peel-off force between the Ecoflex
film with the FPCB substrate.
Fig. 10. (a) Setup for measuring changes in the electrical resistance
of the FPCB strain sensor under different finger bending conditions and
applied air pressures. (b) Average curvature of the bent finger calculated
from a curve joining five marked points.
cable set. During the peel-off process, the Ecoflex film and
the FPCB substrate were moved in the vertical and horizontal
directions, respectively, to maintain a peel-off angle of 90◦.
After the integration and fabrication of the miniaturized
pneumatic finger, a setup for measuring changes in the elec-
trical resistance of the FPCB strain sensor under different
finger bending conditions and applied air pressures was estab-
lished [Fig. 10(a)]. The miniaturized pneumatic finger was
actuated with pressurized air supplied by a syringe pump
(C9ES-SPLab02, Dogger Instruments, New Taipei, Taiwan).
The air pressure was recorded with a pressure gauge (CPMS-
R-1000-L, Jetec Electronics, Taichung, Taiwan) and images
of the finger deformation were captured with a side-view
camera. The finger-bending curvature was analyzed from the
captured images with the ImageJ software (National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA). Five points on the contour
of the miniaturized pneumatic finger were marked and con-
nected with a curve to calculate the average finger curvature
[Fig. 10(b)]. The changes in electrical resistance of the FPCB
strain sensor at different bending curvatures were recorded
with the multimeter.
III. R ESULT AND D ISCUSSION
A. FPCB Strain Sensor
Two types of FPCB strain sensors, one with a single pattern
and one with a dual pattern, were fabricated and are presented
in Fig. 11(a) and (b), respectively. To study the effect of the
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IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 22, NO. 23, 1 DECEMBER 2022
Fig. 11. Fabricated (a) single- and (b) dual-pattern FPCB strain sensor.
Fig. 12. Gauge factors determined with bending measurements for
(a) single-pattern and (b) dual-pattern FPCB strain sensors.
thickness of the metallic-glass thin film on the performance
of the strain sensor, metallic-glass thin films with different
thicknesses were deposited on the sensors by varying the
sputtering time. The thicknesses of the deposited metallic-glass
thin films were measured with a profilometer (XP-1, Ambios
Technology, Milpitas, CA, USA) and determined to be 70, 90,
and 110 nm.
The bending gauge factors for single-pattern and dual-
pattern sensors with different metallic-glass thin film
thicknesses were measured; the results are presented in
Fig. 12(a) and (b) for the single-pattern and dual-pattern
FPCBs, respectively. The dual-pattern FPCB strain sensors
have higher gauge factors due to the double-length deforma-
tion of the metallic-glass sensing material during the bending
deformation. Moreover, the FPCB strain sensor with the
metallic-glass thin film with the greatest thickness had the
highest gauge factor because greater thickness leads to a
greater tensile strain during the bending deformation.
To investigate the stability of the FPCB strain sensors,
bending strains were periodically applied to and released
from FPCB strain sensors with 90-nm-thick metallic-glass
thin films. Bending strains were applied for 5 s and then
released for 5 s; thus, the duration of each strain cycle
was 10 s. Measurements of changes in electrical resistance
for the single-pattern and dual-pattern FPCB strain sensors
are presented in Fig. 13(a) and (b), respectively. According to
the measurement results, the electrical resistance of the FPCB
strain sensor changed instantly when the bending deformation
CHUANG et al.: FPCB STRAIN SENSOR EMBEDDED IN A MINIATURIZED PNEUMATIC FINGER 22461

Fig. 14. Cyclical bending test results for the fabricated FPCB strain
sensor.

Fig. 13. Electrical resistance changes during periodic bend–release

strain tests for (a) single-pattern and (b) dual-pattern FPCB strain
sensors.

was applied and released. As the bending strain increased, the

change in electrical resistance of the FPCB strain sensor also
increased. The dual-pattern FPCB strain sensor was unstable; Fig. 15. Effects of surface treatment on the contact angle and surface
its electrical resistance did not return to its initial state. The energy.
single-pattern FPCB strain sensor is more stable than the
dual-pattern FPCB. The reason for the unstable behavior of
the dual-pattern FPCB strain sensor would result from the
deposited metallic glass thin film quality. If the thin film
quality is not good enough, there would be small defects
in the thin film causing unstable behavior. Compared to the
single-pattern FPCB strain sensor, small defects would easily
cause unstable behavior in the dual-pattern FPCB strain sensor.
This is because the metallic-glass sensing material in the
dual-pattern FPCB strain sensor is longer and narrower than
it in the single-pattern FPCB strain sensor.
To estimate the long-term stability of the sensors, a cyclical
bending strain test was conducted on a single-pattern FPCB
strain sensor with a 90-nm thick metallic-glass thin film
layer. A bending strain of 0.11% was applied and released Fig. 16. Peel-off measurement results for PI and Ecoflex surfaces with
and without surface treatment.
periodically over cycles of 3 s. The results are presented in
Fig. 14. The electrical resistance change was stable at 0.11%
A similar result was observed for the Ecoflex surface; the
for the applied bending strain of 0.11% over 500 strain cycles.
contact angle of the plasma-treated surface is lower than that of
the untreated surface; thus, the treatment increases the surface
B. Bonding Strength Improvement energy of the Ecoflex surface.
The primary material of the FPCB strain sensor bonded The contact measurement results reveal that the PI surface
with the Ecoflex finger body is PI. To improve the bonding with APTES and plasma treatment and the Ecoflex surface
strength between the FPCB strain sensor and the Ecoflex with plasma treatment have higher surface energy. Surfaces
finger body, various surface treatments were performed on the both with and without treatment were bonded together for the
PI and Ecoflex surfaces. Contact angle measurement results peel-off test; the results are presented in Fig. 16. The results
are presented in Fig. 15. The PI surface of the FPCB strain reveal that the bonding force between surfaces with surface
sensor with APTES and plasma treatment had a lower contact treatment is higher. Therefore, surface treatment improves the
angle than that of the surface without treatment, indicating that bonding strength between the FPCB strain sensor and the
the treatment increased the surface energy of the PI surface. Ecoflex finger body.

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22462
Fig. 17. Bending deformations of a miniaturized pneumatic finger with
different applied air pressures of (a) 0, (b) 8, and (c) 17 kPa.
Fig. 18. Measurement results for finger average bending curvature and
electrical resistance changes of an embedded FPCB strain sensor at
different applied air pressures.
C. Performance of the Miniaturized Pneumatic Finger
The integrated pneumatic finger was actuated by applying
pressurized air from a syringe pump. The resulting increase
in air pressure in the finger channel and chambers resulted
in the chambers expanding; the inextensible FPCB strain
sensor caused the finger to undergo bending deformation. The
bending deformations of the miniaturized pneumatic finger at
air pressures of 0, 8, and 17 kPa are shown in Fig. 17(a)–(c),
respectively. The finger chamber closest to the fixed end has
the largest expansion deformation because it is the largest of
the three chambers; the chamber wall of a larger chamber
stretches and expands more easily.
For different applied air pressures, the average finger bend-
ing curvature estimated from the captured image and the
electrical resistance change measured from the FPCB strain
sensor were recorded and are presented in Fig. 18. As the
applied air pressure increases, the finger bending deformation
increases, resulting in an increase in the average bending
curvature. Simultaneously, the change in electrical resistance
of the FPCB strain sensor increases with the average finger
bending curvature. For example, when the applied air pres-
sure was 17 kPa, the average bending curvature was nearly
0.05 mm−1 and the change in resistance was approximately
0.25%. The fabricated miniaturized pneumatic finger could
be made to bend by changing the applied air pressure, and
the embedded FPCB strain sensor could measure the finger
bending deformation.
IV. C ONCLUSION
In this work, a highly sensitive flexible strain sensor
was proposed and successfully fabricated by sputtering a
Zr-based metallic-glass thin film on the designed FPCB.
Two patterns, single and dual patterns, were deposited with
different metallic-glass thin film thicknesses to investigate the
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IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 22, NO. 23, 1 DECEMBER 2022
performance of the strain sensor. The single-pattern FPCB
strain sensor with a 90-nm-thick metallic-glass thin film had
a linear gauge factor of 4.3 and the best performance for
sensing subtle bending strains. Long-term cyclic tests revealed
that this fabricated FPCB strain sensor has excellent stability
for 500 cycles.
To improve the bonding strength between the finger epoxy
and the strain sensor, APTES and plasma treatments were
conducted on the surfaces. The FPCB strain sensor was soaked
in 5% APTES solution and treated with air plasma to form
silane functional groups to increase the bonding energy on
the PI surface of the FPCB strain sensor. The Ecoflex surface
was treated with an air plasma process to realize silanization.
Contact angle measurements were used to determine changes
in the surface energy of the treated surfaces. The treated
surfaces had lower contact angles, indicating that they had
higher surface energy. Moreover, a peel-off test revealed that
the surface treatment is effective in improving the bonding
strength.
The proposed fabricated FPCB strain sensor was success-
fully integrated with the Ecoflex pneumatic finger. The perfor-
mance of the miniaturized pneumatic finger was quantified.
The finger could bend when compressed air was applied.
As the applied air pressure increases, the finger bending
deformation increases, resulting in an increase in the average
bending curvature. Simultaneously, the electrical resistance
change of the FPCB strain sensor increases as the average
finger bending curvature increases; thus, the sensor could be
used to determine the deformation of the finger. In future
works, this self-deformation signal could be used as a feedback
control signal for the precise control of the deformation of the
pneumatic finger.
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Yi-Chun Chuang is currently pursuing the
B.S. degree in bio-industrial mechatronics engi-
neering with National Chung Hsing University,
Taichung, Taiwan.
His research interests include fabrication
processes, soft robotics, and the area of flexible
sensors and actuators.
Tun-Yi Cheng received the B.S. and M.S.
degrees in bio-industrial mechatronics engi-
neering from National Chung Hsing Univer-
sity, Taichung, Taiwan, in 2019 and 2021,
respectively.
His current research interests include the area
of micromachined sensors and actuators.
Yao-Chuan Tsai received the B.S. degree in
mechanical engineering from National Chiao-
Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 2004, and
the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engi-
neering from National Taiwan University, Taipei,
Taiwan, in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Tohoku
University, Sendai, Japan, from 2011 to 2014.
From 2014 to 2016, he was a Researcher at
MEMS-CORE Company Ltd., Sendai. He was
an Assistant Professor at the faculty with the
Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, National Chung
Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, in 2016, where he was promoted
to Associate Professor, in 2021. His current research interests include
the area of micromachined sensors and actuators and smart agriculture
applications.