{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T18:41:42Z","timestamp":1777142502430,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,19]],"date-time":"2021-03-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1616112000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["11U3116N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11U3116N"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1S84120N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1S84120N"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sensing pressure at the physical interface between the robot and the human has important implications for wearable robots. On the one hand, monitoring pressure distribution can give valuable benefits on the aspects of comfortability and safety of such devices. Additionally, on the other hand, they can be used as a rich sensory input to high level interaction controllers. However, a problem is that the commercial availability of this technology is mostly limited to either low-cost solutions with poor performance or expensive options, limiting the possibilities for iterative designs. As an alternative, in this manuscript we present a three-dimensional (3D) printed flexible capacitive pressure sensor that allows seamless integration for wearable robotic applications. The sensors are manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, which provides benefits in terms of versatility of design and implementation. In this study, a characterization of the 3D printed sensors in a test-bench is presented after which the sensors are integrated in an upper arm interface. A human-in-the-loop calibration of the sensors is then shown, allowing to estimate the external force and pressure distribution that is acting on the upper arm of seven human subjects while performing a dynamic task. The validation of the method is achieved by means of a collaborative robot for precise force interaction measurements. The results indicate that the proposed sensors are a potential solution for further implementation in human\u2013robot interfaces.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21062157","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,21]],"date-time":"2021-03-21T23:47:41Z","timestamp":1616370461000},"page":"2157","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7991-0976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kevin","family":"Langlois","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"},{"name":"imec, 3001 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0362-8499","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ellen","family":"Roels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"},{"name":"imec, 3001 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0464-5298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabri\u00ebl","family":"Van De Velde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cl\u00e1udia","family":"Espadinha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9996-6953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher","family":"Van Vlerken","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7398-5398","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tom","family":"Verstraten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"},{"name":"Flanders Make, 3290 Lommel, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4881-9341","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bram","family":"Vanderborght","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"},{"name":"imec, 3001 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dirk","family":"Lefeber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Robotics &amp; Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Elsene, Belgium"},{"name":"Flanders Make, 3290 Lommel, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1177\/0269215515575166","article-title":"Lower-limb exoskeletons for individuals with chronic spinal cord injury: Findings from a feasibility study","volume":"30","author":"Benson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clin. 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