by

|   Apr 13, 2008 at 11:46am

Here's some shots of an interesting use of these things for contact detection on a robot over at Hacked Gadgets:
http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/04/13/map-bot-floor-mapping-robot/

by

|   Mar  7, 2010 at  2:02am

Take care how you mount these in your project.

I was really surprised when I had two of these fail after only about 700 flexings. Looking at the failed sensors I noticed what I would call a design flaw. Most of the sensor has a thick plastic backing which helps keep it from bending too far/sharply to cause damage. However the reinforcing strip ends abruptly about 2mm before the connectors and the remaining material will easily bend far enough to destroy the sensor. (If you look closely at the back product shot you can see where the strip ends.)

After applying strain relief to the connection area (gluing a couple of thick pieces of plastic across it) the life of the sensor has been dramatically improved.

by

|   Apr  8, 2010 at  7:17pm

Bravo on the "Wizard" reference. Lucas would be pleased... :)

by

|   Apr 28, 2010 at  5:05pm

Any idea where to get the connectors for these?

Thanks.
-- Rob

by

|   Apr 30, 2010 at  8:27am

The pins are 0.1" spaced so it'll plug into a breadboard, or any of the female connectors or jumper wires. I'll get them into the related items list.

by

|   May 25, 2010 at  9:59pm

These things are terrible. Absolutely terrible. I bought two a week ago to add to an e-textile project, and before I could finish, both the sensors decide that they only like to work when the "unprotected" end where the pins are is at a certain position. For sensors that are meant to be used with a lot of motion, these things are poorly designed. VERY POORLY DESIGNED.

by

|   May 26, 2010 at  9:04am

Sorry to hear that. Email techsupport@sparkfun.com if you need help with them. They should be more stable than that, although the pins can be finicky.

by

|   Jul 19, 2010 at 12:07pm

The datasheet link is broken. :(