Model-based compensation of rate-dependent hysteresis in a piezoresistive strain sensor

This paper is concerned with modeling of smart textiles, aimed at compensating their intrinsic nonlinearities. In particular, a new model is proposed to compensate for hysteresis and relaxation in strain sensors made of Electrolycra. These sensors are increasingly employed in emerging areas such as wearable electronics and soft robotics for their simple transduction mechanism and low cost. However, being intrinsically nonlinear, the signals measured from these devices need some processing, in order to increase their sensing accuracy. Here, we propose a new model for the compensation of the main distortions intrinsic to these soft sensors, which are mainly caused by hysteresis and relaxation, whose combined effect produces rate-dependent hysteresis. The model capabilities are tested on experimental data measured on Electrolycra. The comparisons with the results obtained with two different models witness the good behavior of the proposed model.