Customizing the IOT (IDTechEx Sensors USA 2016)

The future Internet of Things (IOT) will require custom solutions to sense and interpret the world. Technologies are needed that are able to serve thousands of ever-changing, specialist deployments, many of them short lived. Printing is a promising approach to both mass produce and customize sensor systems for the IOT. Hybrid, flexible printed sensor systems can address both the desired form factor and the exact sensing modality for a variety of applications. For example, structural monitoring or wearables, require unique form factors, often personalized or customized. Arrays of sensors can be readily fabricated through printing, while data acquisition and communication are best performed by thin silicon microcircuits. Printed sensor arrays with combinatorial capabilities are especially powerful for accurate detection and selectivity. PARC has a long history of developing large-area sensor arrays for detection of light, radiation or acoustic signals. More recently, our team has been focusing on the integration of printed electronics with sensors, microchips and other discrete components. Powering sensor systems with printed energy harvesting or wirelessly is also an important part of the solution. The combination of these technologies is now mature enough to enable specialized smart labels, for example, chemical sensors in cold chain logistics. Similar sensors can also be deployed in networked modes for infrastructure monitoring. The key to the success of IOT sensor systems is the ability to produce them configurable, on-demand, at low cost.

A global center for commercial innovation for 40 years, PARC, a Xerox Company, is a pioneer in the development and commercialization of thin film transistors, circuits, and sensors. With deep knowledge of printing technology applied in domains such as displays, image sensors, and medical sensors, PARC's technical expertise and facility support printed dielectrics, nanoparticle metals, organic, oxide, and silicon (amorphous, polycrystalline, printed nanowire) semiconductors. PARC's clients include display manufacturers, consumer electronics firms, IT companies, government agencies, and materials suppliers to the printed and flexible electronics markets.