FORCOIT Stretchable Sensor Solutions
FORCIOT set to revolutionize car interiors with world’s first stretchable 3D multitouch-pad module for elastic surfaces with products that are essentially a measurement and IOT technology that consists of following three main elements:
- Force measurement hardware and algorithm software for the force measurement
- Connected application to process, store and view the data and
- Product integration service for customization and technical support
Sensor matrix can be tailored to different form factors and size. It is possible to utilize same measurement system in most customer products and equipment fast with only moderate customization efforts.
FORCIOT® system measures accurately force, weight, pressure, and balance in real-time or the system can be utilized e.g. as an HMI touch controller as well in elastic environments. Forciot offers the system for the manufacturers to be integrated into their products or equipment to provide valuable information.
- Stretchable HMI system in interiors can adjust based on passenger preferences and modes
- Hygiene – surfaces with no buttons are easier to clean, keep clean and proof clean.
- Controller with Multi-Touch, Zoom In/ Out, Scroll Up / Down, Press / Force, Tap, Slide, Etc.
There are also other technology providers and capacitive sensor makers that can offer similar features, but Forciot is the only one that offers all these features in one solution.
The sensor matrix is formed from very thin layers of stretchable and conformable materials each having different and optimized electromechanical characteristics. The core of the force sensor matrix technology is based on printing conductive material into thin stretchable sheets. Because of the thinness and flexibility, sensors can be integrated into demanding elastic environments. Parameters which can be customized are: the amount of sensors, the area and thickness of sensors, sensor placements, applied force scale for sensors and non-conductive surface materials. These parameters, as well as electrical and material specific aging parameters, are used in a specific compensation and self-calibrating algorithm to ensure reliable and accurate results in different conditions, throughout the entire lifetime of the product.
Each sensor is individually connected to the electronics module through a connector. The module reads analogue values from sensors, converts those to digital form, applies self-calibration and compensation algorithms to individual electrode values and sends the data forward to the connected application – either by wireless or wired connection. Machine Learning technologies are also being applied in algorithm development.
Additional on-board sensors like temperature and motion sensors provide data for those algorithms, as well as for power management purposes. Energy management can be handled in various alternative ways, depending on the customer application: with external power supply, with replaceable batteries or with rechargeable batteries by using either wireless or USB charging. Additionally, energy harvesting can be designed as a parallel option for limited applications.
Both Force Sensing + 3D Touch Sensing combined and Self-Calibrating algorithms as part of the system (Machine learning).
The application has three main functions which all can be tailored based on the need; data handling, user interface and device management. The application first collects force measurement data from the sensor hardware and handles data storage either locally or through an internet connection to the cloud service. This is called as IoT gateway functionality. Data interfaces are designed in such a way that those can be easily utilized in customer specific or 3rd party cloud and mobile applications. The platform running the application can be a mobile phone, tablet, car computer or customer specific processing unit.
The user interface can visualize both real-time and stored measurement data for the user as well as combining other available and relevant data sources (e.g. location) with the data. Additionally user interface can be used for controlling and flexibly configuring measurement system parameters. Each sensor node can be individually configured and reprogrammed remotely through the application. This functionality is called device management.
Tytti Julkunen tytti.julkunen@forciot.com
