This paper introduces an approach for decoding the pressure information exerted over a broad piece of fabric by means of capacitive sensing. The proposed sensor includes a distributed passive array of capacitors (i.e. an array where no active elements are involved), whose capacitance depends on the pressure exerted on the textile surface and an electronic system that acquires and processes the subsequent capacitance variations. Capacitors can be made in diŽerent ways, though, in our demonstrator, they have been implemented between rows and columns of conductive fibers patterned on the two opposite sides of an elastic synthetic foam. Measures performed on a prototype have demonstrated the reliability of the approach by detecting pressure images at ten Frames/s and by measuring capacitances as low as 100 fF spaced apart at meters of distance.

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