SOMALYTICS 3D-Sensors

SOMALYTICS APPLICATION OPPORTUNITIES

                                                                                            10/22/2022

This is a summary of potential applications that can be marketed across the technology Eco System.

Somalytics Fibrous Electrode Sensor is made of carbon nanotube paper composite, prepared by embedding carbon nanotubes into cellulose fibers for electrical conductance. A water-printing and stretching method are used to fabricate a fibrous sensor.

Somalytics Self-Capacitance 3D Sensor Assembly Puck is validated – with thickness: 3~5 mm, width: 18mm, and length:30 mm.

There are great application opportunities for the sensor targeted for HMI and Wellness Applications. In both cases, opportunities are for 2025 CY in-vehicle feature integration or fast-to-market accessory and retail HMI and Wellness feature product integration.

Below are some application recommendations as investigated by Design HMI. While the Somalytics Sensor is key for the application design other technology and innovations would need to be integrated to complete the application design.

1). Plug and Play In-Vehicle Dome light: Three-piece assembly with Printed Circuits, Side Mount LED, and Sensor integrated behind the lens. Wireless with 1,000 mAh battery for a three-year lifecycle.

2). Digital liquid Flow Metric Sensor: Applications are coolant and oil flow tracking, medical device, and generic applications like coke and beer in commercial dispenser flow detection. Advanced tubular molding with or without flex circuits based on application requirements. The circuit may need conformal coating.

3). 4-Gang Switch Assembly with Reading Lights & Indicator Lamps: Will need molding for the bezel and light Assembly and assembly and Paint and Laser-etch graphics. Dead font graphics illumination through proximity detects of 50 mm. The design target is for non-touch functionality of 10 mm.

4). Door Proximity Detect Multi-Function Switch: Proximity detection coupled with feature input. Water-resistant connector and assembly. The ideal feature function may be printed circuits on the rear PC-ABS cover – if cost permits.

5). In-Vehicle Liquid Measurement for Volume & Quality: Applications like water coolant, both oil tank level, and quality sensing, and of course fuel tank level/volume. The target here is to develop a concept design based on the two standard sensor measurement targets.

6). Plug & Play Self Capacitance Touchless Switch: Targeted for both proximity detection and touchless input. Proximity detection at 70 mm and touchless input iare10 mm. Dimensions 30mm x 30mm x 20 mm. The target cost is $2,45 based on 1 million units annual volume projections by 2024.

7). Wellness Sensor Direct on Body Sensing: Somalytics 3M™ Red Dot™ ECG Monitoring Electrodes is a market opportunity both for entry into medical and more important simple assembly design. No pigtail is needed, and the electrode is designed for simple integration.

8). Gesture Control Air Vent Design: Ideal application for Luxury Vehicles, Public Transport, hospital, and other applications. Needs to be integrated with brushless motor – at this stage only need concept assembly drawing using a current in-production vent like the Dorman 74354 Dashboard Air Vent shown below.

9). Rear Automotive Trunk Ajar Proximity Detect Switch: The Touch solution proposed for the rear latch switch is an integrated touch switch assembly that consists of a formed soft touch elastomer with Somalytics Self-Capacitance Sensor. The assembly is injection molded into the cover.

10). Multiple Innovative Applications: Below are three examples of integration of Somalytics Sensor in Heavy Vehicles Center Console Switch Assembly, Wireless Keyfob, and Wireless Controller with Display Technology Integration.

11). Keyless Entry Keypad: Not only automotive but multiple other applications. Integrate with proximity detect for lighting the graphics couples with touchless code input. Ideal for harsh climates also.

12). ASIC Development: This may be the most important feature development for Somalytics coupled with 3D Self Capacitance Sensor. This would allow Somalytics to offer a fully validated pick-and-place solution. The rendering below is from https://www.elmos.com/english/products/special-projects/asic-design.html.

 

Somalytics Self-Capacitance is designed for providing functionality for both types of applications mentioned above – HMI Touch Interface and Feature Definition. Somalytics Self-capacitance is highly responsive to register touch commands performed using little or even no pressure. If you hover your finger close to the display interface, it will draw some of the device’s electrostatic charge. In addition to being responsive, Somalytics’ self-capacitance is highly accurate.

Somalytics self-capacitive system measures changes in capacitance with respect to earth ground.  Considering a parallel-plate model, the electrode forms one plate of a capacitor, with the other plate being either ground or the user’s finger. A touch causes the electrode capacitance to increase, as the human body “adds” capacitance to that of the system.

Self-capacitive measurement employs a single electrode and measures the change in capacitance with respect to ground caused by a typical user’s touch; the finger results in a higher capacitance compared to the baseline measured value including the change of the self-capacitance of a touch button with respect to finger’s distance.

Any parasitic capacitances to ground in the system will reduce the effect of the user touch and make the touch detection harder.

Touch / Force HMI Input Technologies: There are multiple Touch or Force Touch technologies starting with Electromechanical Snap Action Blade to Dome Contact / Elastomer Keypad and then Resistive, Surface Acoustic Wave. Capacitive, FSR, Infrared Grid, Infrared Acrylic Projection, Optical Imaging, Dispersive Signal Technology, Acoustic Pulse Recognition, Piezo, Standard Infrared, PIR Sensor, Light Sensor, Ultrasonic Sensor Projected Capacitive, Bend Sensor, Hall Effect Sensor, and maybe a few others that am missing.

These days the most common are resistive and capacitive – both of which can be designed into most Class-A surfaces. Capacitive has to overcome major design challenges if the surface is metallic. In the case of Touch Input for Translucent Display, a major want is a translucency input.

Feature Definition Sensors: The second category of sensors that go beyond a simple touch interface are those that determine the physical quality of the close proximity object like Temperature Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Pressure Sensor, Smoke, Gas & Alcohol Sensor, Color Sensor, Humidity Sensor, Position Sensor, Sound Sensor, Tilt Sensor, Flow and Level Sensor, Strain and Weight Sensor and again a few more that am missing.

Accounting for over nine in 10 of all touchscreens shipped globally, capacitive is the world’s most popular type of touchscreen technology. It’s called “capacitive” because it uses capacitance to detect touch commands. When shopping for a capacitive touchscreen, though, you may encounter self-capacitance. A subtype of capacitive technology, it uses capacitance to detect touch commands — just like all capacitive touchscreens. With that said, self-capacitance touchscreens are designed in a specific way that distinguishes them from other capacitive touchscreens.

Somalytics Fibrous Electrode Sensor is made of carbon nanotube paper composite, prepared by embedding carbon nanotubes into cellulose fibers for electrical conductance. A water-printing and stretching method are used to fabricate a fibrous sensor.[1] Two types of sensors are produced.

Electrical design requirements for the Capacitive Sensor Control Board.  The operating procedure for this embedded processor is to provide 12V DC power to the board which in turn powers a 5.0V low dropout regulator. The 555 timer runs at 12V, and the microprocessor runs from 5V. The power-on reset circuitry holds the processor in reset until all of the circuitry has powered up then releases the processor from a reset after which the processor boots from its internal flash ROM and the program comes up running and processing commands from the USB.   At the very beginning of the application code, the RGB LED will flash blue several times to indicate the code is running properly.

Capacitive Sensor

1. The ‘Sensor Puck” provided by Somalytics forms a sensitive capacitor which is measured in the timing circuit.
2. An LM555 timer configured as an oscillator uses the Sensor Puck together with a resistor to define the frequency of oscillation.
3. LM555 timer runs at 12VDC.
4. The capacitance changes on the “Sensor Puck” result in a frequency change which is counted by the microprocessor. The instantaneous frequency delta detected by the microprocessor counter may be reported as a positive detection based on a programmed threshold.
5. The frequency of the LM555 timer should be nominally 315kHz and give a delta between 315kHz and 285kHz when modified by the human hand proximity.
6. Operating temperature range of the sensor in the automotive application is -20 to +120F.
7. Prototype Sensor Circuit Drawing: shows a single sensor hookup wire.

The system must be able to sample and report the frequency at least 1000 times per second. The system needs to give an analog voltage signal corresponding to counted frequencies. Other Features:

1. The system needs to transfer digitally counted frequencies using a USB cable.
2. The system needs to turn on three LED output signals. One is to show power and the other two show the frequency change.
3. The supply voltage to the 555-Timer is 12 V.
4. The frequency of the LM555 timer should be nominally 315kHz and give a delta between 315kHz and 285kHz 12V DC power for the LM555 timer circuit, a linear regulator for 5V power from 12VDC, provide a red LED to signal that 5V power is operational from the linear regulator, one ADC channel should be used to measure the 5V power supply level, one ADC channel should be used to measure the 12V power supply level and no use is made of USB 5V input.

USB Connector is the main link for the microcontroller on the PCB, provides a board edge right angle connector for USB connection, USB 2.0 connector: Micro-B and Flash programming connector: 0.1 in pitch 6×1 female right-angle connector.

RGB LED with Blue being the operation color driven by a microprocessor GPIO pin and can signal when the microcontroller is operating. Regulated 3.2v for LED.

Shielding: The timer circuit and the sensor capacitance node shall be shielded with guard traces on the PCB and ground stitched along the sensor trace.  The 555-timer circuit shall be surrounded by a ground potential trace box and also mounting vias shall be provided for a shield can on the top side of the PCB.   The goal is that nearby bodies will not significantly impact the performance of the sensor unit. It is unknown if these measures will be sufficient.

Frequency to Voltage Converter: The transfer function of the frequency converter gives a 50mV change for a 1 pF change in the “Sensor Puck”. The PIC processor measures the frequency of the sensor and outputs a voltage using the DAC with a transfer function of .5V/100kHz = .1V/20kHz. The transfer function chosen is decided by the software program and the accuracy is chosen by the software by way of the sample rate configuration.

The Microprocessor shall count the sensor signal at a 48MHz clock rate – of 32MHz or 16z`1The 16MHz depending on the microprocessor configuration.  The accuracy of the frequency counter is governed by the sample clock period or 1/48e6= 20.8nS.  The microprocessor power consumption is also governed by its clock rate so an operating frequency of 16MHz or 1/3 of the maximum rate will consume less power but give a less accurate count.  This trade-off is controlled by the microprocessor configuration and can be chosen regardless of the hardware design.

The system must be able to sample and report the frequency at least 1000 times per second. Using Microprocessor Controller Microchip PIC16F1459-I/SS – 8-bit microcontroller:

1. 8K Words Flash
2. Built-in in USB2.0
3. I2C
4. Temp Indicator – use one ADC channel.
5. 3 to 5.5V operating range.
6. Operating temperature range is -40 to 125C
7. 20 Pin SOIC
8. Wake up on Change (WOC) Pins for Battery operation
9. Requires Microchip PICkit3 programming interface. (6 pin 0.1in the header)
10. Reset-Button to reboot the microcontroller.
11. Power-On Reset circuits required

Power

1. 12V DC power is used to give the LM555 timer circuit a more dynamic range.
2. 5V power is supplied by a linear regulator from 12VDC.
3. Provide RGB LED from the linear regulator.
4. One ADC channel should be used to measure the 5V power supply level.
5. One ADC channel should be used to measure the 12V power supply level.
6. No use is made of USB 5V input

Communications: USB could be the main link for the microcontroller on the PCB. In that case, the PIC Microprocessor provides a direct USB interface.  Provide a board edge right angle connector for USB connection. Operation RGB color to be Blue.

Somalytics Capacitive Sensor is miniature <1 mm in diameter, detects human tissue up to 20 cm away, has low latency <3mm, and speeds up to 1,000hz.

Fabrication of Patented carbon nanotube (CNT) paper is simple – Silver is applied to the CNT paper, paper is water printed, fractured and the sensor is encased in PET.

The basic working principle is water-induced fracture reorganizes CNT fibers parallel to each other, increases surface area and contact and non-contact modes of detection

Capacitive Eye Tracking Glasses:

1. Under 80 grams
2. Not tethered
3. 8-hour battery
4. Natural appearance means natural behavior
5. Virtual Reality Eye Tracking.
6. Up to 1,000 Hz keeps up with saccades
7. Latency <3ms
8. Low power consumption
9. Cost-effective

Human-Machine Interaction Touchless technology.

Enabling use cases only dreamed of in electronics, automotive, appliances, the bathroom, touch-free elevators. Faster and better than infrared.

1. Detects speed and proximity accurately
2. Sensitive to the hand at up to 20 cm. distance
3. Latency of 1ms means it works!
4. Works with any skin tone
5. 3D gesture recognition
6. Detects liquid fill levels

Wearables

Sensors can detect multiple aspects of wellness including eye movement when the eyes are closed.

1. Not affected by skin tone like infrared
2. Virtually invisible
3. Can be disposable
4. Possible Applications are REM (Rapid Eye Movement) / Heart Rate / Respiration / Sweat / Blood Pressure / Edema

Virtually Invisible 3D-Sensors made from Carbon Nanotube Paper Composite (CPC™).

POTENTIAL AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS:

• Hands-on steering detection
• In-seat sensors detect human presence, ECG , drowsiness
• HUD as well as gesture for sunroof, mirrors, etc
• Proximity sensing for doors
• Safety sensor for windows to prevent closing when hand is in the way
• Anything that benefits from capacitive touch that is smaller than existing and more sensitive to human presence

SOMALYTICS ET VR SENSORS AND STAND-ALONE GLASSES:

• VR ET sensors that deliver on the promise of VR – any eye shape, <3ms latency, 1,000hz sampling rate, 6mW power consumption.
• Glasses that go beyond research for all day at home tracking by capturing eye movement related to attention, reading, recent stroke, other eye movement, indoors or outside, weighing under 50g
• Sleep mask for detecting rapid eye movement (REM) during sleep; REM is source of memory and learning, disrupted by neurological issues and medication; needed by all fitness wearable monitoring companies

All at unprecedented speed of up to 1,000hz, while reducing processing and energy consumption, not tethered , last 8 hours on battery charge.

SOMALYTICS CPC™ CAPACITIVE SENSORS:

• Incredible sensing and small size: diameter .1mm thick, 10mm diameter x4mm and senses at 20 cm
• Works on any human or other object to detect speed and proximity accurately
• Can be on floor mats or on a vending machine to detect human presence
• Enables real world gesture control in practical environments like elevator buttons, vending machine buttons, home control, hygiene dispensers (soap and sanitizer)

 

SOMALYTICS’ WEARABLE SENSORS

• Highly SENSITIVE TO changes in skin, HR, breathing, muscles.
• 1mm thick, 1mm diameter.
• Disposable

Sensor compared to humidity detector  – When the sensor was placed on a hand, the humidity changes due to sweat evaporation could be measured.

SUMMARY:

1. Carbon Nanotube Paper (CPC™) Sensor.
2. Printed – cellulose paper substrate impregnated with carbon nanotubes.
3. Fractured- Uses fracture mechanics of cellulose paper.
4. Packaged – Packaged in PET or other substrate.
5. Conducting- Nanotubes coat cellulose and align across the fracture – array of small area capacitors.
6. Magnifying – Increases electric field by orders of magnitude (due to small area).
7. Extending- Fringing fields extend over much larger range resulting in increased sensitivity.
8. Low complexity – Simple manufacturing compatible with sheet or roll-to-roll processing.

Greater surface area of multiwalled carbon nanotubes combined with greater surface area of fractured, finger-like, high-aspect ratio fibers deliver huge increase in capacitance.

• Sensitivity: Normalized capacitance change of 0.14 for human tissue over 20 cm range.
• Response: 300KHz. Detection by modulation of ~0.3 MHz wave (vs <1Khz for inductive sensors).
• Miniature: can be wrapped onto a wire( ~1mm in diameter) while maintaining the performance.

For more information contact BARBARA BARCLAY CEO, SOMALYTICS Barbara@somalytics.com