Dressware D. De Rossi, et al. University of Pisa

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Dressware D. De Rossi, et al.University of Pisa

• Diana Young
• 3/10/03

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Features of Dressware

• Electoactive polymers (EAP)
• Elastic
• Flexible and conformable
• Wearable
• Manufacturable

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Applications

• Monitoring kinematics and gesture
• Ergonomic and rehabilitation engineering
• Virtual reality, teleoperation, telepresence

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Fabrication

• Materials
• Lycra as base material, chosen for elasticity,
  conformability to human body
• Very thin layer of ? -electron conjugated
  conducting polymer (polypyrrole)
• Dissolve monomer (pyrrole) and oxidant reagent
  (FeClO4) in distilled water
• Add Lycra to solution and allow to sit 30min,
• Resulting resistivity of 3kO/cm2
• Can use mask method for deposition

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Closeup of PPy/Lycra Fabric
Unstrained fabric (Lycra coated with PPy, low
magnification electron Microscopy (35x)
Strained fabric (Lycra coated with PPy, low
magnification electron microscopy (35x)
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Features

• As length increases, resistance decreases
• Progressive increase in number of contacts as
  applied load increases
• High piezoresistive and thermoresistive
  coefficients

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Some characterization results
Resistance variations vs. elongation for two
rectangular samples. Lower curve refers to sample
cut in parallel direction and upper one to sample
cut in perpendicular direction.
Resistance vs. temperature
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Sensor placement for monitoring kinematics
Inspecting several groups of sensors installed in
strategic places, determining joint posture by
comparing resistance values of each sensor in the
group related to joint.
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Geometrical model, sensor placement and output
Flexion (model)
Flexion (output)
Flexion
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Torsion (model)
Torsion
Torsion (output)
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Custom glove
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Custom leotard
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Sources

• De Rossi, D. Carpi, F. Lorussi, F. Mazzoldi,
  A. Scilingo, E.P., Tognetti, A. Electroactive
  Fabrics for Distributed, Conformable and
  Interactive Systems, Sensors, 2002. Proceedings
  of IEEE , 21608 -1613.
• De Rossi D., Lorussi F., Mazzoldi A., Scilingo
  E.P., Active Dressware Wearable Proprioceptive
  Systems Based on Electroactive Polymers, 5th
  International Symposium on Wearable Computers
  (ISWC 01), October 8-9, 2001, Zurich,
  Switzerland.
• De Rossi D., Lorussi F., Mazzoldi A., Orsini P.,
  Scilingo E.P., Monitoring Body Kinematics and
  Gesture Through Sensing Fabrics, 1st Annual
  International IEEE-EMBS Special Topic Conference
  on Microtechnologies in Medicine and Biology,
  October 12-14, 2000, Lyon, France.
• De Rossi D., Della Santa A., Mazzoldi A. 1999.
  Dressware Wearable Hardware, Material Science
  Eng. C, 731-35.
• De Rossi, D. Santa, A.D. Mazzoldi, A.,
  Dressware Wearable Piezo- and Thermoresistive
  Fabrics for Ergonomics and Rehabilitation,
  Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society,
  1997. Proceedings of the 19th Annual
  International Conference of the IEEE ,
  51880-1883.