Low-voltage capacitive measurement methodology for dielectric elastomers

Preston Peranich; Will Carroll; Carver Middleton; Erin Parker; Samuel Prabhakar; Purva Talegaonkar; Samaneh Davarzani; David Saucier; Karen Persons; John E. Ball; Reuben Burch; Harish Chander; Adam Knight; Brian Smith

doi:10.1117/12.2587797

12 April 2021 Low-voltage capacitive measurement methodology for dielectric elastomers

Preston Peranich, Will Carroll, Carver Middleton, Erin Parker, Samuel Prabhakar, Purva Talegaonkar, Samaneh Davarzani, David Saucier, Karen Persons, John E. Ball, Reuben Burch, Harish Chander, Adam Knight, Brian Smith

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Proceedings Volume 11757, Smart Biomedical and Physiological Sensor Technology XVIII; 1175707 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2587797
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2021, Online Only

Abstract

Dielectric elastomers have emerged in recent years as a smart material capable of acting as an actuator, a sensor, or a generator. When used as a sensor, this soft, flexible material exhibits a change in capacitance as it is deformed in both compression and tension. This has led to the adaptation of dielectric elastomer sensors in the wearable technology space, where careful sensor placement can enable the measurement of biomechanical movement. However, these sensors may not be measured using traditional capacitance measurement techniques due to their increased electrode resistance. Thus, a low frequency, low voltage capacitive measurement methodology needs to be derived for these sensors to thrive in wearable applications. In this work, we propose such a methodology which utilizes phase detection with the Goertzel algorithm. Traditionally used for tone detection, the Goertzel algorithm provides an efficient method for recovering individual terms of the DFT. Our sensing methodology is integrated into a low-cost microcontroller and integrated with a wireless microcontroller to enable remote measurement of the dielectric elastomers. The open sourcing of this device may jump-start the widespread adoption of dielectric elastomers as biomechanical sensors.

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Preston Peranich, Will Carroll, Carver Middleton, Erin Parker, Samuel Prabhakar, Purva Talegaonkar, Samaneh Davarzani, David Saucier, Karen Persons, John E. Ball, Reuben Burch, Harish Chander, Adam Knight, and Brian Smith "Low-voltage capacitive measurement methodology for dielectric elastomers", Proc. SPIE 11757, Smart Biomedical and Physiological Sensor Technology XVIII, 1175707 (12 April 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2587797

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