Hybrid Electronic Sheet Pressure Sensor for Wearables
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current pressure sensors lack mechanical flexibility and stability, making them unsuitable for applications in humanoid robots, smart vehicles, and wearable devices that require high sensitivity and durability, especially when exposed to various environmental stimuli and moisture.
Innovation Solution
A pressure sensor design featuring a hybrid electronic sheet with a graphitic material and phage binding, where the phage peptide is displayed on a coat protein fragment, providing excellent controllable electrical properties and mechanical flexibility, stability, and sensitivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If silicon-based solid MEMS-based pressure devices are used, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and mechanical flexibility deteriorate due to fragile properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters from traditional silicon-based MEMS to a hybrid structure combining ITO (indium tin oxide) conductive layer with flexible substrate materials. This parameter change in material composition maintains electrical conductivity while fundamentally improving mechanical flexibility and reducing fragility, allowing the sensor to withstand bending and deformation without cracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining ITO conductive layer with flexible substrate materials to create a hybrid pressure sensor structure. This composite approach integrates the electrical conductivity of ITO with the mechanical flexibility of the substrate, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and mechanical flexibility by achieving both properties simultaneously.
2Ease of manufacture
If conductive polymer-based pressure sensors are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to long-term stability issues and conductivity changes when exposed to moisture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary protective layer or coating on the conductive polymer surface that acts as a barrier against moisture and environmental factors. This intermediary layer preserves the ease of manufacture and flexibility of conductive polymers while protecting against reliability issues caused by moisture exposure, preventing conductivity changes and maintaining long-term stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an inert environment for the conductive polymer by applying protective coatings or encapsulation that isolates the polymer from moisture and oxygen. This inert environment protection allows the conductive polymer to maintain its electrical properties and mechanical flexibility over time, resolving the reliability issue without sacrificing ease of manufacture.
3Power
If nano material-based devices are used, then electrical conductivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to difficulty in obtaining reproducibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses standardized nanomaterial deposition processes that can be replicated across multiple manufacturing runs. By establishing consistent copying protocols for nanomaterial application, the patent maintains high electrical conductivity while improving reproducibility and manufacturing precision through standardized procedures rather than relying on variable nanomaterial properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables the pressure sensor to effectively measure bio-information, such as blood pressure and heart rate, with high sensitivity and durability, suitable for diverse applications including humanoid robots and wearable devices, while maintaining stability even when exposed to moisture.
Implementation Method 1
the electronic sheet includes a graphitic material and a phage binding to the graphitic material, and the binding is made between a peptide displayed on a coat protein or a fragment thereof of the phage and the graphitic material
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a pressure sensor including hybrid electronic sheet and a wearable device including the pressure sensor. The pressure sensor has excellent controllable electric characteristics and excellent mechanical flexibility and stability, and measures, for example, pressure in a simple and highly reproducible manner in which a resistance of a component in a sensor varies depending on applied pressure.