Beans Laboratory, a cooperative association for technology research in Japan, developed a contact detection sheet using a fiber-like device.
Because the sheet can detect pressure and position where pressure is applied, it will possibly be used for artificial skins and body sensors. A prototype of the sheet was disclosed at Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS 2009, which took place in July 2009 at Tokyo Big Sight.
The fiber-like device used for the contact detection sheet is made by forming a conducting layer on a nylon thread and covering it with an insulating film. For the conducting layer and the insulating film, PEDOT (polyethylenedioxythiophene), which is a transparent conductive polymer, and parylene are used, respectively.
When a sheet is woven by using this thread as warp and weft, the crossed parts become pressure sensors. The electrostatic capacity between two threads increases when pressure is applied to the sheet, and a contact is detected from the change in capacitance. Furthermore, from the combination of the two threads, the position where the pressure is applied is determined.
Beans Laboratory is now working on a project to develop low-cost and large-area functional devices by weaving threads formed in a continual process. This time, it exhibited the prototype to show practical application of the device.
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