An Inkjet-Printed Piezoresistive Bidirectional Flow Sensor

Sengupta, Debarun; Birudula, Srikanth; Wörtche, H. J.; Kottapalli, Ajay Giri Prakash

doi:10.1109/sensors52175.2022.9967262

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Besides a rudimentary, self-build water tunnel 21 , a tabletop water tunnel had not been used by other labs for flow sensor development. The value of this is underpinned by a research group from Groningen, Netherlands starting to use a commercially designed setup to investigate vortex shedding and detection 22 .…”

Section: Underwater Testing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient swimming through electroactive polymer hydrodynamic sensing

Bruns¹,

Tang²,

Mahmoudinezhad³

et al. 2023

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXV

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For long-range swimming fish, low cost of transportation is a critical requirement. This also applies to autonomous fishlike robots (AFR). As with their biological cohorts, AFR require sensory input that characterizes the flow of the water surrounding them. Thus, there is a need for low power hydrodynamic sensors that can be deployed on a fish-like robot, and which can provide flow information from open water conditions. Electroactive polymers offer opportunities for flow sensing on soft and flexible AFR.We developed and evaluated an approach for capacitive electroactive polymer flow sensing. This uses dielectric elastomer sensor membranes mounted on a liquid-filled cavity protruding into the flow. Flow speed and incident angle on a hydrofoil standing in for the fish are registered through electrical capacitance changes resulting from deformation of its 350μm thick membrane. Through its triple-electrode design, measurements are largely shielded against the influence of the surrounding water on the capacitor. Differences in flow speed along the sensor can be detected with high reproducibility for extended durations of time. The developed sensors were assessed regarding accuracy, reliability, and durability.For performance and long-term testing, an automated tabletop water tunnel test rig was created. This setup enables sensor testing for flows up to 1 m/s with automated incident angle control and data logging.We are thus presenting further steps towards robust ocean-faring hydrodynamic sensory systems by demonstrating advances in electroactive sensory technology and testing facilities.

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Section: Underwater Testing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient swimming through electroactive polymer hydrodynamic sensing

Bruns¹,

Tang²,

Mahmoudinezhad³

et al. 2023

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXV

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“…But this method involves high cost and delay in fabrication due to the requirement of clean room facilities. In a research related to bidirectional flow sensor, titanium carbide nano particle-based inkjet-printed flexible bidirectionality has been implemented (Sengupta, 2022). However, this material is found be best suited for flow sensors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, fabrication and experimental analysis of piezoresistive bidirectional acoustic sensor

Hegde,

Chaulagain,

Tamang

2024

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Purpose Identification of the direction of the sound source is very important for human–machine interfacing in the applications such as target detection on military applications and wildlife conservation. Considering its vast applications, this study aims to design, simulate, fabricate and test a bidirectional acoustic sensor having two cantilever structures coated with piezoresistive material for sensing has been designed, simulated, fabricated and tested. Design/methodology/approach The structure is a piezoresistive acoustic pressure sensor, which consists of two Kapton diaphragms with four piezoresistors arranged in Wheatstone bridge arrangement. The applied acoustic pressure causes diaphragm deflection and stress in diaphragm hinge, which is sensed by the piezoresistors positioned on the diaphragm. The piezoresistive material such as carbon or graphene is deposited at maximum stress area. Furthermore, the Wheatstone bridge arrangement has been formed to sense the change in resistance resulting into imbalanced bridge and two cantilever structures add directional properties to the acoustic sensor. The structure is designed, fabricated and tested and the dimensions of the structure are chosen to enable ease of fabrication without clean room facilities. This structure is tested with static and dynamic calibration for variation in resistance leading to bridge output voltage variation and directional properties. Findings This paper provides the experimental results that indicate sensor output variation in terms of a Wheatstone bridge output voltage from 0.45 V to 1.618 V for a variation in pressure from 0.59 mbar to 100 mbar. The device is also tested for directionality using vibration source and was found to respond as per the design. Research limitations/implications The fabricated devices could not be tested for practical acoustic sources due to lack of facilities. They have been tested for a vibration source in place of acoustic source. Practical implications The piezoresistive bidirectional sensor can be used for detection of direction of the sound source. Social implications In defense applications, it is important to detect the direction of the acoustic signal. This sensor is suited for such applications. Originality/value The present paper discusses a novel yet simple design of a cantilever beam-based bidirectional acoustic pressure sensor. This sensor fabrication does not require sophisticated cleanroom for fabrication and characterization facility for testing. The fabricated device has good repeatability and is able to detect the direction of the acoustic source in external environment.

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“…Using additive manufacturing, customized sensors can be created with intricate geometries and integrated flow channels to meet specific application requirements [27][28][29]. Finally, flow sensors can also be fabricated using printed electronics techniques, such as screen printing [30,31] or inkjet printing [32,33] or a combination of them. These methods offer advantages in terms of affordability and versatility, enabling the development of flow sensors with enhanced flexibility and adaptability for various application fields.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A fully printed sensor with optical readout for real-time flow monitoring

Barmpakos,

Apostolakis,

Pilatis

et al. 2023

Flex. Print. Electron.

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In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of flexible thermal flow sensing devices due to their wide-ranging applications. In this study, we present the fabrication of a screen-printed flow sensor with optical readout on a 125 μm polyethylene terephthalate substrate in a three-layer configuration. The device comprises electrodes made from a commercial silver (Ag) ink, a heating area using a commercial carbon ink, and a thermochromic (TC) layer employing a commercial ink with a standard activation temperature of 31 °C. We designed a specialized experimental setup to evaluate the performance of the optical flow sensor under static and dynamic conditions. To analyze the device’s thermal response and performance across various flow conditions, we utilized a combination of electrical measurements and infrared (IR)-optical imaging techniques. The all-printed device operates on the basis of a thermodynamic cycle frequency, which activates the TC ink, causing it to blink at a frequency related to the flow passing over the sensor. The results of our preliminary testing are highly promising, as the sensor successfully demonstrated a clear relationship between flow and optical duty cycle. This innovative device offers a contactless, low-cost, easy-to-use flow detection method and holds significant potential for various practical applications.

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An Inkjet-Printed Piezoresistive Bidirectional Flow Sensor

Cited by 3 publications

References 14 publications

Efficient swimming through electroactive polymer hydrodynamic sensing

Efficient swimming through electroactive polymer hydrodynamic sensing

Design, fabrication and experimental analysis of piezoresistive bidirectional acoustic sensor

A fully printed sensor with optical readout for real-time flow monitoring

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