Flexible fabric keyboard with conductive polymer-coated fibers

摘要

We proposed flexible fabric keyboard which consists of conductive polymer of PEDOT:PSS-coated fibers, standard Micro Control Unit (MCU) with capacitance measurement circuits and personal computer (PC). In the sensor structure, PEDOT:PSS and UltraViolet(UV) -curable adhesive-coated fibers were woven as wefts and warps. The conductive polymer and insulating polymer coating technique was developed to form functional material on enough long fibers to weave fabric with. The weaving with automatic looming machine was employed, forming 1.2 m × 3 m sensor fabric. The sensors could detect human touch by measuring capacitance change between human fingers. The values of capacitance change under touch input ranges from 1.0 to 2.0 pF which is able to be detected by conventional capacitance meters that were integrated in MCUs. By using 9 by 3 touch sensors, keyboard was constructed and the demonstration of inputting character was made.