Physical Sensors & Devices

Research that includes:

  • Silicon MEMS actuators: comb, electro-thermal, and plastic deformation
  • Precision electronic sensing and measurements of capacitive, frequency, and coulombic MEMS variables
  • Structures and architectures for gyroscopes, accelerometers, micro strain gauges for direct application to rigid structures e.g., steel, and levitated MEMS

BPN974: Lidar-Camera Fusion for Autonomous Driving

Philip L. Jacobson
2022

Within the past few decades, the goal of fully-autonomous vehicles has moved from a thought experiment to a potential reality thanks to advances in machine intelligence. One of the key challenges to still be overcome is the building of robotic perception systems which can achieve performance on-par with or surpassing that of humans. Currently, most autonomous driving researchers rely on several different modalities for collecting visual information, namely lidar, radar, and cameras. Although relying on lidar for perception has the drawback of high cost, maturing lidar technology has opened...

BPN876: Metal-Organic Frameworks for Chemical Sensing with High Selectivity

Alireza Pourghaderi
Isaac Zakaria
2022

A classic challenge in gas sensing is the tunability of the sensing material for the selective absorption of target gases without interference from unwanted species. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), made up of metal-cluster nodes connected by organic linkers, can achieve selective adsorption owing to their high chemical and structural tunability. Their selectivity and flexibility make MOFs attractive for gas sensing, as realized in novel low-power, low-footprint, on-chip devices such as the chemical-sensitive field-effect transistor, previously demonstrated by our group. In this...

BPN913: Mixed-Dye ZIF-8-Based Colorimetric Carbon Dioxide Sensing for Robust Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

Adrian K. Davey
2022

Indoor levels of carbon dioxide (700 parts per million and up), when coupled with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under most temperature and humidity environments, can induce fatigue, nausea, nasal irritation, and related human health symptoms. Toward the realization of rapid, inexpensive, passive, and visually-obvious indoor gas sensors, we present dye-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which employ distinct color changes to measure indoor carbon dioxide concentrations. Our latest generation of the sensor, based on the coupling of multiple dyes blended with MOF...

BPN948: Wireless Tactile Stimulation with MEMS Inchworm Motors

Dillon Acker-James
2022

The goal of this project is to make an untethered MEMS tactile stimulator. Electrostatic inchworm motors made in SOI substrates routinely generate 1-15 mN of force and 2 mm/s travel, making them a viable option for a millimeter-scale wireless tactile stimulator. Collaborating with Professor Eric Paulos and his students, our first step is to conduct haptic sensation surveys in order to understand what a user feels based on different forces. Our current chips provide a force range of 1mN up to 15mN, but we plan to increase this in the future. Our next step would be to integrate the MEMS...

Facile Fabrication of Multilayer Stretchable Electronics via a Two-Mode Mechanical Cutting Process

Renxiao Xu
Peisheng He
Guangchen Lan
Kamyar Behrouzi
Yande Peng
Dongkai Wang
Tao Jiang
Ashley Lee
Yu Long
Liwei Lin
2021
A time- and cost-effective fabrication methodology via a two-mode mechanical cutting process for multilayer stretchable electronics has been developed without using the conventional photolithography-based processes. A commercially available vinyl cutter is used for defining complex patterns on designated material layers by adjusting the applied force and the depth of the cutting blade. Two distinct modes of mechanical cutting can be achieved and employed to establish the basic fabrication procedures for common features in stretchable electronics, such as the metal interconnects, contact...

Programmable Tactile Feedback Patterns for Cognitive Assistance by Flexible Electret Actuators

Tao Jiang
Wenying Qiu
Zhaoyang Li
Xing Ye
Yuhan Liu
Yushi Li
Xiaohao Wang
Junwen Zhong
Xiang Qian
Liwei Lin
2021

Advanced tactile feedback systems are important tools in the field of human–machine interfaces. In this work, an airflow-assisted corona charging process is utilized to charge films made of electret material for the construction of a sandwich-structured flexible actuator system. With a voltage as low as 20 V, this flexible actuator can stimulate skin sensations for basic tactile feedback functions. Under a driving voltage of 200 V, the system can generate an output force of ≈55 mN, which is larger than that of the output force by cellphones under the vibration mode. Utilizing these...

Deep Learning for Non-Parameterized MEMS Structural Design

Ruiqi Guo
Fanping Sui
Wei Yue
Sedat Pala
Kunying Li
Renxiao Xu
Liwei Lin
2022

The geometric designs of MEMS devices can profoundly impact their physical properties and eventual performances. However, it is challenging for researchers to rationally consider a large number of possible designs, as it would be very time- and resource-consuming to study all these cases using numerical simulation. In this paper, we report the use of deep learning techniques to accelerate the MEMS design cycle by quickly and accurately predicting the physical properties of numerous design candidates with vastly different geometric features. Design candidates are represented in a...

Jordan L. Edmunds

Alumni
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Professor Michel M. Maharbiz (Advisor)
Ph.D. 2022

NT25: VLSI MEMS Switch

Qingquan Liu
2006

Two important advantages of MEMS switches are their ability to survive heat and radiation. In addition, there has been increasing demand for passing transistor replacement in specific reconfigurable computing and signal routing application; passing transistors used in VLSI exhibit on-state resistances of thousands of ohms or more, which causes signal delay and increased power consumption. In this project, the design, fabrication and characterization of MEMS contact switches customized for VLSI are presented, herein referred to as “VLSI MEMS switches”.

Project end...

NT23: Ni Electroplated Vertical Comb-Drive Actuator

Zhihong Li
2004

A low-cost, vertical comb-drive actuator has been developed employing a thick photoresist and electroplating process. The vertical comb-drive actuator (VCA) will be employed for optical applications such as scanning mirrors and optical communication as well as other devices such as tunable capacitors

Project end date: 08/18/04