I-Corps: Millimeter-wave communications for real-time sensing, identification, and localization

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是双重的。这项技术的特点是与灵活的混合电子(FHE)技术和物联网(IoT)相结合，并具有非常大的潜在应用空间。作为一种特别考虑到技术而设计的方法，这项发明有可能从根本上改变物联网格局。事实上，薄膜印刷外形的这种功能组合可能会催生一类新的无处不在的物联网设备。这种设备成为主流且成本较低，其社会、经济和环境效益可能是显著的。这将使在各种应用领域收集跟踪和传感数据成为可能，例如减少农产品运输过程中易腐烂物品的损失，允许监测温度敏感的保健品，并将与管道泄漏和基础设施老化相关的风险降至最低。i-Corps项目基于作为低成本物联网(IoT)解决方案开发的技术，用于在大型工业和公共环境中无处不在地快速检测危险化学物质。它被演示通过低成本的喷墨打印无线标签来实时检测室内光能和无电池的氨。它包括新的通信方法和射频硬件的组合，可以实现低成本、印刷和灵活的“智能皮肤”设备，这些设备可以在超过1000码的最大距离内进行通信和本地化，而只需要手表的操作功率数量级。该方法位于当前技术进步的各个领域的接口，如5G和物联网网络、灵活和混合印刷电子产品、汽车雷达和基于纳米材料的传感。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project are twofold. This technology is characterized by its connection to flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE) technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT), and by its remarkably large potential application space. As an approach that was specifically designed with FHE technologies in mind, this invention has the potential to radically transform the IoT landscape. Indeed, such a combination of capabilities in a thin-film printed form factor could give birth to a new class of ubiquitous IoT devices. The social, economic, and environmental benefits of such devices becoming mainstream and low cost could be significant. This would enable the collection of tracking and sensing data across a large variety of application areas, such as reducing the losses of perishables during transportation of agricultural products, permitting the monitoring of temperature-sensitive health products, and minimizing the risks related to pipeline leaks and aging infrastructure.This I-Corps project builds on technology that was developed asa low cost Internet of Things (IoT) solution for the ubiquitous and rapid detection of hazardous chemical agents in large industrial and public environments. It was demonstrated for the real-time indoor-light-powered and battery-less detection of ammonia by a low-cost inkjet-printed wireless tag. It consists in the combination of novel communications approaches and radio-frequency hardware which can enable low cost, printed and flexible "Smart-Skin" devices which can communicate and be localized at a maximum range in excess of 1000 yards, while only requiring an operating power on the order of that of a wrist watch. The approach lies at the interface of various current areas of technological progress, such as 5G and IoT networks, flexible and hybrid printed electronics, automotive radars, and nanomaterials-based sensing.