  Capacitive technology allows building sensors that are small, compact and
have high sensitivity. For this reason it has been widely adopted in robotics.
In a previous work we presented a compliant skin system based on capacitive
technology consisting of triangular modules interconnected to form a system of
sensors that can be deployed on non-flat surfaces. This solution has been
successfully adopted to cover various humanoid robots. The main limitation of
this and all the approaches based on capacitive technology is that they require
to embed a deformable dielectric layer (usually made using an elastomer)
covered by a conductive layer. This complicates the production process
considerably, introduces hysteresis and limits the durability of the sensors
due to ageing and mechanical stress.
  In this paper we describe a novel solution in which the dielectric is made
using a thin layer of 3D fabric which is glued to conductive and protective
layers using techniques adopted in the clothing industry. As such, the sensor
is easier to produce and has better mechanical properties. Furthermore, the
sensor proposed in this paper embeds transducers for thermal compensation of
the pressure measurements. We report experimental analysis that demonstrates
that the sensor has good properties in terms of sensitivity and resolution.
Remarkably we show that the sensor has very low hysteresis and effectively
allows compensating drifts due to temperature variations.
