A flexible and robust double-helix tubular cloth/carbon fibers piezoresistive sensor for human motion detecting

摘要

Cloth-based piezoresistive sensors with weaved microstructures have become very attractive wearable electronics due to their cost-effectiveness, high sensitivity, and simple fabrication. Here, a double-helix tubular cloth/carbon fibers (CFs) piezoresistive sensor (DTCPS) is successfully produced and tightly encapsulated by a polyethylene heat shrinkable tube that reveals prominent reliability (20000 s fatigue tests) and agile response speed (response time of 31 ms). Owing to the synergistic effect of microstructures of tubular cloth and relatively large contact area of CFs, the DTCPS demonstrates the wide pressure measurement range from 3 N to 480 N and the high sensitivity of 0.178 N-1 (3 N ~ 330 N). Considering the excellent output performances, the DTCPS is used to detect the human motion postures and is possibly expected to be applied in the fields of artificial intelligence and individualized medical care.