Designing Flexible Capacitive Electrodes based on Performance Measurement while Deformation

In recent years, capacitive sensing has become more and more popular due to its versatile deployment possibilities such as in wearables or in smart living applications. For these purposes, the sensing electrodes often need to be flexible and integrated into textiles. Yet, there is not much research regarding the design of such electrodes and in particular their behavior while being deformed, although flexible sensors are frequently exposed to deformation. Therefore, in this thesis, flexible capacitive sensors and their design will be explored, focusing on the materials, shape and size of the electrodes. Further, it will be investigated how deformation of flexible electrodes impacts the sensing performance. For this aim, an extensive literature review on different electrode characteristics and their influence on sensing performance has been conducted. Besides, a measurement series with capacitive textile electrodes under deformation and also applied pressure has been performed. Based on the results of the literature review and the measurement series, a recommendation for designing flexible capacitive electrodes will be provided.