Kirigami-inspired Flexible Strain Sensor for Dynamic Inflation Surface Applications

Flexible strain sensors are crucial for providing tactile feedback, proprioception, and adaptability in soft robotics, where precise evaluation is especially essential for applications such as biomedical devices. However, traditional sensors face challenges due to their limited flexibility and sensitivity, particularly when deployed on dynamic three-dimensional surfaces. To address these challenges, this work introduces a kirigami-inspired sensor, leveraging the unique kinetic properties of the kirigami structure. This special kirigami called biaxial cutting (BC) pattern significantly enhances the flexibility of 130.8% and sensitivity of 154% while ensuring a high match rate of over 83% across multiple cycles. Additionally, the Kirigami sensor demonstrates exceptional stability (3% error) during the cycle stretching experiments, making it highly suitable for applications requiring continuous deformation. Its excellent improvement hints at its potential as a promising solution for next-generation flexible sensing technologies.