SBIR-STTR Award

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop new touch sensors for applications in many sectors, such as fitness, healthcare and automotive uses. The proposed system uses special light sources that change internally when pressure is applied to external surfaces. These can be extremely accurate and have previously been used to control robots. The proposed project extends this to human-computer interfaces, with an initial focus on developing novel wearables that track motion for human performance monitoring.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on using elastomeric material to create lightguides that change power output upon stretching, expanding the use of these highly accurate photonic strain gauges. This photonics sensor matrix consists of nodes of intersecting powered and unpowered stretchable optical lightguides in 2D and 3D arrays. When these lightguides contact, the light coupled between them is proportional to the applied stress and strain, localizing the deformation and measuring its amplitude. This project will address: 1) scaled production of these fibers; 2) development of centralized electronics hubs ensuring separation from sensing fibers; and 3) development of robust signal processing for calibration and error minimization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to advance new pressure sensors for wearables. In car seats these sensors can help determine occupancy or measure driver attentiveness. These sensors can also be used to enable a sense of touch in robotic platforms, thereby improving automated decision-making processes. In the virtual and augmented reality sector, this system can measure force and pressure information to improve the training and learning outcomes across a range of industries, including sport, medical and military training applications. In the healthcare and wellness market, the proposed sensors would provide biometric data on high speed motions and ground reaction forces, as well as respiration and muscle fatigue information for improved outcomes. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project focuses on advancing stretchable photonic sensors in the wearables industry. These elastomeric sensors are lightguides that change power output upon stretching, with the change in power output proportional to the amount of strain applied. The power output from the sensors can be calibrated towards biometric metric outputs such as high speed kinematics (joint angle velocities) and muscle fatigue (volume changes due to inflammation). Due to the soft, stretchable and thin nature of these lightguides, they can easily be integrated into garments without affecting their mechanical properties, and thereby be essentially unnoticeable to the wearer. Currently, these sensors can gather data at rates two orders of magnitude faster than the closest competitive technology. This project will focus on further increasing the data acquisition speeds and hardware testing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.