Soft Bimodal Sensor Array Based on Conductive Hydrogel for Driving Status Monitoring

Abstract

Driving status monitoring is important to safety driving which could be adopted to improve driving behaviors through hand gesture detection by wearable electronics. The soft bimodal sensor array (SBSA) composed of strain sensor array based on ionic conductive hydrogels and capacitive pressure sensor array based on ionic hydrogel electrodes is designed to monitor drivers’ hand gesture. SBSA is fabricated and assembled by the stretchable functional and structural materials through a sol–gel process for guaranteeing the overall softness of SBSA. The piezoresistive strain and capacitive pressure sensing abilities of SBSA are evaluated by the data acquisition system and signal analyzer with the external physical stimuli. The gauge factor (GF) of the strain sensor is 1.638 under stretched format, and –0.726 under compressed format; sensitivity of the pressure sensor is 0.267 kPa−1 below 3.45 and 0.0757 kPa−1 in the range of 3.45–12 kPa, which are sensitive enough to hand gesture detection and driving status monitoring. The simple recognition method for the driver’s status behavior is proposed to identify the driver’s behaviors with the piezoresistive properties of conductive polymers, and the turning angles are computed by the strain and pressure values from SBSA. This work demonstrates an effective approach to integrate SBSA seamlessly into an existing driving environment for driving status monitoring, expanding the applications of SBSA in wearable electronics.

Metal-Filled Polyvinylpyrrolidone Copolymers: Promising Platforms for Creating Sensors

“…Soft elastic porous materials are used to make electronic skin and sensors for recognizing and monitoring hand gestures, movement, and human interaction through the use of mechanisms [ 3 ]. Due to their good mechanical properties, hydrogels are used not only for the manufacture of strain gauges, but also for pressure detectors [ 29 ].…”

“…Nowadays, in various fields of science and practice, a demand exists for polymer materials that not only possess the necessary physical and chemical properties, but are also able to predictably change their characteristics during their operation depending on external stimuli, due to which they can be used for the manufacture of sensors. Polymer hydrogels are a promising material for creating sensors for various purposes [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Polymer hydrogels are characterized by high sorption capacity for low molecular weight substances [ 5 ] and permeability to liquids and gases [ 6 ], which is a prerequisite for their use in various fields of science and practice [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Soft Conductive Hydrogel-Based Electronic Skin for Robot Finger Grasping Manipulation

“…The flexible polymer would be synthetized and adopted to the fabrication of RES [ 31 ]. Figure 2 depicts the main fabrication process of RES integrated into the robot finger, which includes preparation of the soft conductive hydrogel and sol–gel solution process for the conductive ionic hydrogel [ 32 ]. First, 15.62 g of acrylamide (AAm) (Aladdin Co., Shanghai, China) power and 16.029 g of NaCl are added into 100 mL of DI water.…”

Biocompatible, Antibacterial, and Stable Deep Eutectic Solvent-Based Ionic Gel Multimodal Sensors for Healthcare Applications

“…Ionic gel strain sensors have seen significant advancements in recent years owing to their excellent mechanical and electromechanical properties . Research has shown that ionic gel strain sensors have high environmental stability and can withstand exposure to various conditions without significant degradation of their performance . However, some studies have raised concerns over cell toxicity, highlighting the importance of continued research to optimize their performance and ensure safe application in various environments, including biomedical applications where biocompatibility is crucial. − Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are distinctive eutectic mixtures known for their markedly reduced melting points in comparison to their individual components, an outcome of potent hydrogen-bonding and ionic interactions .…”