Electronics Weekly
(Source: K. Selsam-Geißler, Fraunhofer ISC)
The material will be presented on IDTechEX Europe at booth F16 in the Estrel Berlin on 27 and 28 April 2016.
The new sensor technology will be incorporated into a prototype shirt. This so-called MONI shirt will feature a number of functions including monitoring movement.
Fraunhofer ISC has developed novel piezoelectric polymer sensor printing pastes free from toxic solvents while development partner Fraunhofer ISIT has provided the evaluation electronics.
The organisations plans to present the technology to industry partners. They will include field tests on several types of textiles and applications, the further optimization of the electronics as well as wear and washability tests.
The screen-printed sensor materials register pressure and deformation and can thus serve as touch or motion sensors. Their sensitivity to temperature deviations further enables monitoring of temperature changes or non-contact interaction, e. g. as proximity sensors.
First, the sensor pattern is printed. Then, the sensors are subjected to an electric field making the piezolectric polymers align to adopt the targeted pressure sensitivity.
The researchers believe smart textiles like this could be employed in health care or assisted living. In eldercare, everyday life movement sequences could be monitored and failure noticed.
It would also be possible to monitor body signals of in-patients, such as temperature or breathing.
