I-Corps: Stretchable Lightguides for Multimodal Sensing

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发多功能、可伸缩的传感器。这些传感器可用于测量诸如挤压、拉伸和弯曲的变形。当被整合到服装或衣服中时，它们可能会对各种不同的行业产生影响。例如，在健身可穿戴设备市场中，它们可以用于测量肌肉疲劳并随着时间的推移监测肌肉生长，在医疗保健市场中，它们可以用作床单以防止压疮。 在虚拟现实/增强现实中，传感器可用于通过测量接触力以及提供运动跟踪来改善训练，并且在汽车工业中作为汽车座椅的一部分来监控车内乘客行为以及指示车内儿童的存在。 最后，在机器人工业中，可拉伸传感器可以给机器人触觉。 这个I-Corps项目是基于多功能可拉伸传感器的开发，称为多模态传感（SLIMS）的可拉伸光导。SLIMS技术通过使用光学方法改进了单个可拉伸传感器的功能。通过使用整个宽光谱输入中波长的强度和色度变化，这些传感器可以区分机械变形的模式，例如拉伸，挤压和弯曲，以及检测这种变形的大小和位置。由于这些传感器是软的，并且依赖于光子学，而不是电子学作为感测模态，因此与竞争对手不同，它们是可清洗的，对电磁干扰不敏感。SLIMS解耦复杂变形的能力已经通过在无线3D打印手套上的集成得到了证明，其中每个手指都有一个SLIMS。发光（信号）能够在真实的时间内重建手指上的三个关节角度，同时检测手指上的外部压力的位置和力量。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of multifunctional, stretchable sensors. These sensors may be used to measure deformations such as pressing, stretching and bending. When integrated into garments or clothes, they may have an impact in a variety of different industries. For example, in the fitness wearables market, they may be used to measure muscle fatigue and to monitor muscle growth over time, in the healthcare market they may be used as bed sheets to prevent pressure ulcers. In the virtual reality/augmented reality the sensors may be used to improve training by measuring contact forces as well as offering motion tracking, and in the automotive industry as part of car seats to monitor in-vehicle passenger behavior as well as to indicate child presence in the car. Finally, in robotics industry the stretchable sensors may give robots the sense of touch. This I-Corps project is based on the development of multifunctional stretchable sensors termed Stretchable Lightguides for Multimodal Sensing (SLIMS). SLIMS technology improves the functionalities of a single stretchable sensor by using an optical approach. By using intensity and chromaticity changes of wavelengths throughout a broad spectrum input, these sensors can differentiate the mode of a mechanical deformation such as stretching, pressing and bending, as well as detect the magnitude and location of such deformations. Since these sensors are soft and rely on photonics, rather than electronics as the sensing modality, they are washable and insensitive to electromagnetic interference unlike their competitors. SLIMS’ ability to decouple complex deformations has been demonstrated through integration on a wireless 3D printed glove, where each finger has one SLIMS. The glow (signal) was able to reconstruct in real time the three joint angles on the finger as well as simultaneously detect the location and force of external pressure on the finger.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.