Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967052
Chamod Weerasinghe, L. Padhye, Suranga Nanayakkara
Electrical conductivity (EC) is one of the many water quality parameters that provides an indication of total ionic contaminants in water. This is traditionally measured with either lab-based equipment or battery-powered portable meters. These tools are expensive and require expertise to use, hindering their widespread adoption. We aim to address this challenge based on a custom-made electrode and processing unit that can be plugged into a smartphone via the USB port. In this paper, we present the design, development and evaluation of our mobile sensing system that is low cost (< 35 USD), easy-to-use (SUS score of 89.3) and accurate. Our initial testing suggests that the sensor is able to measure EC with < 3% root mean squared percentage error compared to a lab-based instrument. We believe our approach will empower a large group of people to contribute to water quality measurements.
{"title":"Design and Evaluation of a Mobile Sensing Platform for Water Conductivity","authors":"Chamod Weerasinghe, L. Padhye, Suranga Nanayakkara","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967052","url":null,"abstract":"Electrical conductivity (EC) is one of the many water quality parameters that provides an indication of total ionic contaminants in water. This is traditionally measured with either lab-based equipment or battery-powered portable meters. These tools are expensive and require expertise to use, hindering their widespread adoption. We aim to address this challenge based on a custom-made electrode and processing unit that can be plugged into a smartphone via the USB port. In this paper, we present the design, development and evaluation of our mobile sensing system that is low cost (< 35 USD), easy-to-use (SUS score of 89.3) and accurate. Our initial testing suggests that the sensor is able to measure EC with < 3% root mean squared percentage error compared to a lab-based instrument. We believe our approach will empower a large group of people to contribute to water quality measurements.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115812373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967076
Mohammad Alzgool, M. Mousavi, B. Davaji, Shahrzad Towfighian
In this paper, a shock detector is introduced using a micro-scale triboelectric generator and an electrostatic MEMS switch. The fabrication of a micro-scale tribo-electric-nano generator is carried out using MEMS technology for the first time. The fabrication technique enabled reducing the size by 85% compared to a prior work. The generator has aluminum-polyimide on the bottom layer, a gap, and a top layer of Al and amorphous silicon (a-Si), The generator produces 0.4 $V$ pulses as a response to impulse excitation, the produced voltage is used to trigger switch closure by adding it to a DC voltage that is enough to bend the beam down but not enough to close it. The combination of MEMS-triboelectric generator and MEMS electrostatic actuators is ideal because both are fabricated with CMOS technology and can be integrated on the same chip. The proposed system enables creating event-powered micro-switches.
{"title":"Toward CMOS-Compatible Triboelectric Generator to Operate MEMS","authors":"Mohammad Alzgool, M. Mousavi, B. Davaji, Shahrzad Towfighian","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967076","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, a shock detector is introduced using a micro-scale triboelectric generator and an electrostatic MEMS switch. The fabrication of a micro-scale tribo-electric-nano generator is carried out using MEMS technology for the first time. The fabrication technique enabled reducing the size by 85% compared to a prior work. The generator has aluminum-polyimide on the bottom layer, a gap, and a top layer of Al and amorphous silicon (a-Si), The generator produces 0.4 $V$ pulses as a response to impulse excitation, the produced voltage is used to trigger switch closure by adding it to a DC voltage that is enough to bend the beam down but not enough to close it. The combination of MEMS-triboelectric generator and MEMS electrostatic actuators is ideal because both are fabricated with CMOS technology and can be integrated on the same chip. The proposed system enables creating event-powered micro-switches.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"117 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124203418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967163
Hyeongjin Jo, Yonghyeon Bae, Yujun Song, Ji-Hyeon Song
Recently, there has been an emergence of advanced sensor technologies that append promising traits and compensate for problems in conventional sensors. The term “multi-functionality” is used to describe this trend of advancing conventional technologies in this field, such as endowing a sensor to be stretched or to sense multiple forces. Even with this trend, sensors exhibiting both stretchability and multi-modality have been barely explored. We introduce a multi-mode sensor with three modes to distinguish multiple motions: clockwise twisting, counterclockwise twisting, and stretching. It comprises of piezoelectric and piezoresistive sensors and is constructed in yarn structure with those two parts. With a stretchable substrate, this sensor exhibits stretchability. Moreover, by using the electrohydrodynamic spray method for depositing carbon nanotubes on the surface of substrates, a stretchable electrode layer for the piezoelectric sensor is developed. By responding differently with each external stimulus, the multi-mode sensor can determine forces applied on it. We also suggest a mathematical model to distinguish simultaneous stimuli.
{"title":"Stretchable Multi-mode Sensor with Yarn Structure","authors":"Hyeongjin Jo, Yonghyeon Bae, Yujun Song, Ji-Hyeon Song","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967163","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, there has been an emergence of advanced sensor technologies that append promising traits and compensate for problems in conventional sensors. The term “multi-functionality” is used to describe this trend of advancing conventional technologies in this field, such as endowing a sensor to be stretched or to sense multiple forces. Even with this trend, sensors exhibiting both stretchability and multi-modality have been barely explored. We introduce a multi-mode sensor with three modes to distinguish multiple motions: clockwise twisting, counterclockwise twisting, and stretching. It comprises of piezoelectric and piezoresistive sensors and is constructed in yarn structure with those two parts. With a stretchable substrate, this sensor exhibits stretchability. Moreover, by using the electrohydrodynamic spray method for depositing carbon nanotubes on the surface of substrates, a stretchable electrode layer for the piezoelectric sensor is developed. By responding differently with each external stimulus, the multi-mode sensor can determine forces applied on it. We also suggest a mathematical model to distinguish simultaneous stimuli.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114407602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967323
Somu Goswami, Christian Bretthauer, Andreas Bogner, Abhiraj Basavanna, Sebastian Anzinger, M. Haubold, G. Lorenz, Johann Strasser, Daniel Weber, Lorenzo Servadei, R. Wille
The quality of voice communication using True Wireless Stereo (TWS) is not ideal in noisy environments. Existing two microphone beamforming solution is unable to isolate the users voice reliably in all possible acoustic environment. Here, the use of bone-conducted voice pickup holds promise for improving voice calling quality. There are some microphone-based bone-conducted voice pickup solutions on the market that either have insufficient vibro-acoustic performance or are not ideal for use in consumer electronics due to their size. This work conceptualizes a novel vibration sensor that overcomes the limitations of existing solutions to address the gap in technology. The proposed concept is based on industry-proven single-backplate Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology with an attached proof-mass that allows bone-conducted voice pickup. Simulation and characterization of the fabricated MEMS and assembled prototypes show that the proposed solution can achieve a high vibration sensitivity of −29.7 dBV/g and a high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 70 dBA, in a small $3.0times 2.0times 0.8$ mm3 package size. Therefore, it is overall well suited for voice communication using bone-conducted voice in TWS.
{"title":"Compact High-Performance Vibration Sensor Based on Single-Backplate MEMS Technology","authors":"Somu Goswami, Christian Bretthauer, Andreas Bogner, Abhiraj Basavanna, Sebastian Anzinger, M. Haubold, G. Lorenz, Johann Strasser, Daniel Weber, Lorenzo Servadei, R. Wille","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967323","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967323","url":null,"abstract":"The quality of voice communication using True Wireless Stereo (TWS) is not ideal in noisy environments. Existing two microphone beamforming solution is unable to isolate the users voice reliably in all possible acoustic environment. Here, the use of bone-conducted voice pickup holds promise for improving voice calling quality. There are some microphone-based bone-conducted voice pickup solutions on the market that either have insufficient vibro-acoustic performance or are not ideal for use in consumer electronics due to their size. This work conceptualizes a novel vibration sensor that overcomes the limitations of existing solutions to address the gap in technology. The proposed concept is based on industry-proven single-backplate Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology with an attached proof-mass that allows bone-conducted voice pickup. Simulation and characterization of the fabricated MEMS and assembled prototypes show that the proposed solution can achieve a high vibration sensitivity of −29.7 dBV/g and a high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 70 dBA, in a small $3.0times 2.0times 0.8$ mm3 package size. Therefore, it is overall well suited for voice communication using bone-conducted voice in TWS.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114888455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967063
Yul Koh, D. J. Goh, Sagnik Ghosh, Han Xuan Wong, J. Sharma, A. Lal, E. Ng, J. Lee
In this paper, a MEMS torsional mode acceleration switch is proposed for the detection of moderately low levels of acceleration. The torsional mode structure provides for a large displacement to close a switch with a lower acceleration threshold. A nano-gap vertical TiN contact was introduced to implement a stable switch contact. We demonstrate activation of the acceleration switch by a 15g acceleration input with a contact time that is sufficient to trigger electric circuitry. The proposed acceleration switch can be used as a wake-up sensor for zero-power Internet-of-Things nodes.
{"title":"Nano-Gap Contact MEMS Torsional Mode Acceleration Switch Wake-up Sensor","authors":"Yul Koh, D. J. Goh, Sagnik Ghosh, Han Xuan Wong, J. Sharma, A. Lal, E. Ng, J. Lee","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967063","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, a MEMS torsional mode acceleration switch is proposed for the detection of moderately low levels of acceleration. The torsional mode structure provides for a large displacement to close a switch with a lower acceleration threshold. A nano-gap vertical TiN contact was introduced to implement a stable switch contact. We demonstrate activation of the acceleration switch by a 15g acceleration input with a contact time that is sufficient to trigger electric circuitry. The proposed acceleration switch can be used as a wake-up sensor for zero-power Internet-of-Things nodes.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123517973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967104
Reza Nouri, Yuqian Jiang, Anthony J. Politza, Xiaojun Lian, W. Guan
Here, we demonstrate a membrane-based digital CRISPR-Cas13a system for amplification-free absolute quantification of viral particles of HIV-1. We established a stamping technique to digitalize the Cas13 assay inside a commercial track-etched polycarbonate (PCTE) membrane. We evaluated the performance of our system by quantifying the synthetic HIV-1 RNA, where a limit of detection of 100 aM was achieved in 30 min reaction. Absolute quantification of the viral particles HIV-1 in plasma background using our system confirmed that our system can quantify spiked samples.
{"title":"Digital CRISPR-based quantification of HIV-1","authors":"Reza Nouri, Yuqian Jiang, Anthony J. Politza, Xiaojun Lian, W. Guan","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967104","url":null,"abstract":"Here, we demonstrate a membrane-based digital CRISPR-Cas13a system for amplification-free absolute quantification of viral particles of HIV-1. We established a stamping technique to digitalize the Cas13 assay inside a commercial track-etched polycarbonate (PCTE) membrane. We evaluated the performance of our system by quantifying the synthetic HIV-1 RNA, where a limit of detection of 100 aM was achieved in 30 min reaction. Absolute quantification of the viral particles HIV-1 in plasma background using our system confirmed that our system can quantify spiked samples.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121911120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Motor imagery (MI) training-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) improved individuals' motor function by inducing direct alterations in the sensorimotor area. Virtual Reality (VR)-based MI training has been identified as a promising technique for achieving high performance. However, the physical limb position should be considered when designing a better training task. This paper investigated the effect of induced MI activities when the virtual arms were at normal and shifted down position. The paradigm used of Virtual Reality (VR) to simulate the situation of having realistic and unrealistic arms position in an immersive virtual environment. Analyses of electroencephalograms (EEGs) revealed significant differences in MI activity levels between two positions on both the left and right sides. During shifted arms MI, the negative power regions were found in beta and gamma bands on the contralateral hemisphere in time-frequency analysis. Resting vs. normal position arms MI and resting vs. shifted position arms MI classification accuracy reached 80 % and 63 %, respectively. Overall, these findings suggested that taking into account the realistic physical position of virtual limbs is critical for optimizing MI training performance.
{"title":"An Effect of Limb Position in Motor Imagery Training Paradigm in Immersive Virtual Environment","authors":"Suktipol Kiatthaveephong, Suvichak Santiwongkarn, Rattanaphon Chaisaen, Chutimon Rungsilp, T. Yagi, Theerawit Wilaiprasitporn","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967135","url":null,"abstract":"Motor imagery (MI) training-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) improved individuals' motor function by inducing direct alterations in the sensorimotor area. Virtual Reality (VR)-based MI training has been identified as a promising technique for achieving high performance. However, the physical limb position should be considered when designing a better training task. This paper investigated the effect of induced MI activities when the virtual arms were at normal and shifted down position. The paradigm used of Virtual Reality (VR) to simulate the situation of having realistic and unrealistic arms position in an immersive virtual environment. Analyses of electroencephalograms (EEGs) revealed significant differences in MI activity levels between two positions on both the left and right sides. During shifted arms MI, the negative power regions were found in beta and gamma bands on the contralateral hemisphere in time-frequency analysis. Resting vs. normal position arms MI and resting vs. shifted position arms MI classification accuracy reached 80 % and 63 %, respectively. Overall, these findings suggested that taking into account the realistic physical position of virtual limbs is critical for optimizing MI training performance.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"143 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122150575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967053
Hendrik Joost Van Ginkel, Mattia Orvietani, J. Romijn, G. Q. Zhang, S. Vollebregt
In this work, a novel microfabrication-compatible production process is demonstrated and used to fabricate UV photoresistors made from ZnO nanoparticles. It comprises a simple room-temperature production method for synthesizing and direct-writing nanoparticles. The method can be used on a wide range of surfaces and print a wide range of materials. Here, it is used to synthesize a ZnO photoresistor for the first time. The sensor shows a two orders of magnitude lower resistance under UV-C exposure compared to darkness. The low cost and simplicity of this synthesis method enables cheap integration of UV-C sensors for human exposure monitoring or UV-output monitoring of light sources.
{"title":"ZnO Nanoparticle Printing for UV Sensor Fabrication","authors":"Hendrik Joost Van Ginkel, Mattia Orvietani, J. Romijn, G. Q. Zhang, S. Vollebregt","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967053","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, a novel microfabrication-compatible production process is demonstrated and used to fabricate UV photoresistors made from ZnO nanoparticles. It comprises a simple room-temperature production method for synthesizing and direct-writing nanoparticles. The method can be used on a wide range of surfaces and print a wide range of materials. Here, it is used to synthesize a ZnO photoresistor for the first time. The sensor shows a two orders of magnitude lower resistance under UV-C exposure compared to darkness. The low cost and simplicity of this synthesis method enables cheap integration of UV-C sensors for human exposure monitoring or UV-output monitoring of light sources.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125828213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Threads have recently emerged as flexible and stretchable one-dimensional substrate for flexible bioelectronics, which can be easily integrated into existing textiles, like pillows, to impart them with sensing capabilities. In this paper, we integrate strain sensing threads made from 64% polyester, 36% polyurethane threads functionalized with a carbon conductive coating, and protected using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. They are then sewn into a memory foam pillow. The coating on the threads imparts durability, which allows the smart threads to endure exposure to moisture from sweating or washing. For 50% strain, the smart threads exhibit a gauge factor of around 2.5. It exhibits linearity for applied weight from 50.0-5000.0g with thread resistance ranging 0.5-20.0MΩ. The smart threads are connected to a resistance readout circuitry and wireless module to record and transmit strain information wirelessly to a computer. Preliminary results confirm the functionality and demonstrate real-time head motion tracking using the smart pillow.
{"title":"Preliminary Results on Sensing Pillow to Monitor Head Movement using strain sensing threads","authors":"Minghan Liu, Ruben Del-Rio-Ruiz, Atul Sharma, Cihan Asci, Rachel Owyeung, S. Sonkusale","doi":"10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967140","url":null,"abstract":"Threads have recently emerged as flexible and stretchable one-dimensional substrate for flexible bioelectronics, which can be easily integrated into existing textiles, like pillows, to impart them with sensing capabilities. In this paper, we integrate strain sensing threads made from 64% polyester, 36% polyurethane threads functionalized with a carbon conductive coating, and protected using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. They are then sewn into a memory foam pillow. The coating on the threads imparts durability, which allows the smart threads to endure exposure to moisture from sweating or washing. For 50% strain, the smart threads exhibit a gauge factor of around 2.5. It exhibits linearity for applied weight from 50.0-5000.0g with thread resistance ranging 0.5-20.0MΩ. The smart threads are connected to a resistance readout circuitry and wireless module to record and transmit strain information wirelessly to a computer. Preliminary results confirm the functionality and demonstrate real-time head motion tracking using the smart pillow.","PeriodicalId":120357,"journal":{"name":"2022 IEEE Sensors","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126021259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}