Discover how US researchers have engineered a groundbreaking wearable patch that instantly detects environmental hazards and alerts wearers through unique haptic vibrations, enhancing personal safety and enabling robotic hazard avoidance.
Key Points
- A new wearable patch detects environmental hazards such as dangerous gases and heavy metals in water.
- The device uses distinct haptic (vibration) patterns to notify wearers of specific threats, enabling quick responses.
- Developed by researchers at North Carolina State University, the patch is miniaturised, solar-powered, and offers up to 24 hours of battery life.
- The technology can be extended to robotic devices as ‘e-skin’, allowing robots to detect and avoid environmental dangers.
- This innovation aims to improve upon existing sensor technology by providing immediate, direct alerts without relying on phone notifications.
Researchers have developed a wearable patch that can detect hazards in the environment — such as dangerous gases or heavy metals in water — and notify the wearer through vibrations. The device, described in a paper published in the Device journal, also triggers a different “haptic sequence” or vibration pattern, for each hazard it detects, allowing wearers to determine which environmental hazard they need to be aware of.
“There are already sensors that can detect environmental hazards and send notifications to your phone — we wanted to improve on that,” first author Erim Uzunoglu, a PhD student at US’ North Carolina State University, said.
How The Wearable Patch Works
The researchers created a square patch slightly smaller than a driver’s license, containing a microcontroller that serves as the patch’s brain, a battery and sensors to monitor six environmental hazards. The device also has a tiny actuator, which serves as the haptic motor that vibrates against the skin. The exterior of the patch incorporates an array of thin-film photovoltaic cells, allowing the device to harvest solar power when worn.
“We had two goals for this work. First, we wanted to miniaturise the sensors and incorporate them into a wearable patch to identify any potential risks to the wearer,” Uzunoglu said. “Second, if you’re coming into contact with a hazardous substance, you need to know as quickly as possible. And if the notification is being sent to your phone, you may not check it right away. So we wanted to incorporate haptic technology into the patch so that it would vibrate as soon as the hazard was detected, allowing people to respond quickly to the potential threat,” the first author said.
In proof-of-concept testing, the device detected hazardous substances and immediately triggered haptic response, while also demonstrating battery life for up to 24 hours, Uzunoglu said.
Robotic Applications Of E-Skin
The researchers extended the concept for use in robotic devices — calling the device ‘e-skin’ — allowing robots to detect and respond to hazards in their environment. The e-skin layers the sensor patch over a layer of piezoelectric material, which produces electricity under mechanical pressure, they said. When the sensor detects a hazard and triggers haptic response, the resulting vibration against the piezoelectric layer creates an electrical signal that can be detected by the robot, the team said.
In proof-of-concept testing, the e-skin was seen to allow quadrupedal robots to detect hazards and alter their routes to avoid hazards.
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