Stretchable two-dimensional pressure sensor

1. A pressure sensor for measuring the location and intensity of an applied pressure, comprising:

an elastomeric sheet; and

a plurality of micro-channels embedded in said elastomeric sheet;

wherein said micro-channels are filled with an electrically conductive material.

2. The pressure sensor of claim 1 , wherein said micro-channels comprise two orthogonal sets of rows.

3. The pressure sensor of claim 1 , wherein said elastomeric sheet is an elastic material with an elastic modulus of 10-1000 kiloPascals.

4. The pressure sensor of claim 1 , wherein each of said micro-channels has a width greater than or equal to a depth.

5. The pressure sensor of claim 4 , wherein said width and said depth are each between 1 and 1000 microns in length.

6. The pressure sensor of claim 5 , wherein said micro-channels comprise two orthogonal sets of rows with a spacing between parallel rows in each set, and

wherein said spacing is between 1 micron and 10 millimeters.

7. A method of fabricating a pressure sensor comprising:

forming an elastomeric sheet having a plurality of micro-channels embedded therein; and

filling said micro-channels with a conductive material.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said forming step comprises:

casting an elastomeric material in each of three molds to form a flat elastomeric sheet and two micro-channeled elastomeric sheets;

bonding the flat elastomeric sheet and the two micro-channeled elastomeric sheets.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said filling step occurs between said casting step and said bonding step.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein said filling step occurs after said forming step.

11. A method of determining a location of pressure applied to a pressure sensor, comprising:

measuring at a first time the electric resistance of a conductive fluid filling each of a plurality of channels embedded in said pressure sensor;

measuring at a second time the electric resistance of said conductive fluid filling each of said plurality of channels embedded in said pressure sensor;

identifying the channels having the greatest change in electric resistance.

12. A method of determining an intensity of pressure applied to a pressure sensor, comprising:

measuring at a first time the electric resistance of a conductive fluid filling each of a plurality of channels embedded in said pressure sensor;

measuring at a second time the electric resistance of said conductive fluid filling each of said plurality of channels embedded in said pressure sensor;

determining a relative change in the electrical resistance of each of said channels.

13. A pressure sensor capable of indicating intensity and location of an applied pressure, comprising:

an elastomeric sheet defining a two dimensional surface;

a first plurality of micro-channels, embedded in said elastomeric sheet, extending along the two dimensional surface and a second plurality of micro-channels, embedded in said elastomeric sheet, extending along the two dimensional surface transverse to but not intersecting the first plurality of micro-channels;

an electrically conductive liquid filling at least one of the first plurality of micro-channels and at least one of the second plurality of micro-channels; and

wherein the first plurality of micro-channels do not intersect with the second plurality of micro-channels and the electrically conductive fluid filling at least one of the first plurality of micro-channels does not come in contact with the electrically conductive fluid filling at least one of the second plurality of micro-channels.

14. A pressure sensor according to claim 13 wherein a pressure applied to the two dimensional surface causes at least one of the first plurality of micro-channels and the second plurality of micro-channels to change in shape and cause a conductive liquid in the micro-channel to change in resistance.