Recently, research teams from the Harvard Bio-Inspired Engineering Institute at Harvard University and the John Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a highly sensitive flexible capacitive sensor. It consists of silicone and fabric, which can accurately monitor the movement of the human body as the human body moves and bends.
Today, from heart rate monitors to virtual reality helmets, a wide range of wearable technology products are experiencing explosive growth and popularity in the consumer electronics market and research. However, in order to detect and transmit data, most of the electronic sensors used in these wearable devices are made of a hard, inflexible material that not only limits the wearer's natural motion, but also affects the accuracy of the data collected.
The research paper was published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials Technology, and the agreement became part of the Harvard Biodesign Lab's Flexible Robotics Toolkit.
The capacitive sensor consists of a layer of silicone foil (a poorly conductive material) sandwiched between two layers of silver-plated, electrically conductive fabric (a highly conductive material).
This sensor records human motion by measuring changes in capacitance. The so-called capacitance, that is, the ability to hold charge, also refers to the electric field between the two electrodes.
Daniel Vogt, one of the research engineers and co-author of the paper, said: "When we pull the sensor at one end of the sensor, the tension of the silicone layer will be thinner and the conductive fabric layer will be closer. A way to proportional to the applied tension changes the capacitance of the sensor. So we can measure how much the shape of the sensor has changed."
The superior performance of this hybrid sensor comes from its new manufacturing process. Through this manufacturing process, the fabric is attached to both ends of the silica core through another layer of liquid silica gel. This method allows the silica gel to fill the air gap in the fabric and mechanically lock it onto the silica gel, increasing the surface area used to distribute the tension and storage capacitance.
This mixture of silica gel and fabric improves the sensitivity to exercise by taking advantage of the properties of both materials. When pulled up, this tough, interlocking fabric fiber helps the silicone to limit its degree of deformation; when the pull is removed, the silica gel helps the fabric return to its original shape. Finally, the soft, thin wires are permanently attached to the conductive fabric by heat-sealing tape, allowing electrical information from the sensor to be transmitted to the circuit without the need for a hard and bulky interface.
Experiment: The team evaluated the new sensor they designed by performing a tensile test. In the experiment, when the sensor was stretched by the electromechanical test device, the researchers performed various measurements. In general, when the elastic material is stretched, its length increases, and the thickness and width decrease, so the total area of ​​the material does not change, that is, its capacitance remains unchanged. Surprisingly, the researchers found that when the sensor was stretched, the conductive area increased and the capacitance was larger than expected. AsliAtalay, the lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at the Weiss Institute, said: "Silicone-based capacitive sensors have limited sensitivity due to the natural properties of the material. However, by embedding silicone into a conductive fabric, a matrix is ​​created that prevents it. The silica gel shrinks laterally, which increases the sensitivity above the bare silicone we tested."
This hybrid sensor is capable of measuring an increase in capacitance within 30 milliseconds of tension application and a physical change of less than half a millimeter, effectively capturing human motion. To test this capability in the real world, the researchers integrated them into a glove to measure finer hand and finger movements in real time. As the finger moves, the sensor can successfully detect changes in capacitance, indicating their relative position changes over time.
Vanessa Sanchez, a co-author of the SEAS Biodesign Lab, and co-author of the paper, explains: "The higher sensitivity of our sensors means that it has the ability to distinguish between more subtle movements, such as moving the finger slightly from one end to the other. Instead of simply opening the whole hand or clenching your fist."
Value: For the value of this innovative research, let's look at what experts say. The author of the paper, John L. Loeb, a core faculty member at the Weiss Institute and an associate professor of engineering and applied sciences at SEAS, said: "We are very excited about this sensor. Because it is made of textiles, it is naturally suitable for integration into fabrics. Become a 'smart' robot costume."
Ozgur Atalay, a co-author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at the Weiss Institute, said: "In addition, we have designed a uniform mass production process that allows us to create custom-shaped sensors that share uniform characteristics and can be based on Rapid manufacturing for a given application."
Although the research is still in the proof of concept phase, the team is confident in the future direction of the technology. Walsh said: "This research represents an increasing interest in the use of fabric technology in robotic systems, and we see a broad prospect of capturing motion in an outdoor environment, such as sportswear that can monitor physical activity, or The patient's flexible medical device is monitored at home. In addition, these sensors, combined with fabric-based flexible brakes, allow the new robotic system to truly mimic clothing."
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