Sensors

Chemcubed have just shipped their first commercial, custom-developed ink-jettable material for 3D printing optical devices. They have also developed materials specifically for RFID on flexible substrates, thermal applications using silver nanoparticles and CNT, and for structural applications.

Cambridge Nanosystems is a UK-based start-up born out of Cambridge University that specialises in advanced materials. In this profile update, Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh covers their latest developments.

Carbon based nanomaterials such as carbon nanotube and graphene have attracted more and more attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties. As flexible conducting films, these materials present unprecedented great performance in electronic components and flexible nanodevices.

There will be over 3 billion sensors in wearable technology devices by 2025, with more than 30% being emerging sensor types.

Alphabet Energy is a company that's focused on developing, designing and manufacturing thermoelectric waste heat recovery products based on exclusive IP from Michigan State University and the Berkeley National Labs

Fabrisonic is a small technology-focussed business which has developed Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) technology. It uses sound waves to merge 150-200 micron layers of metal foil without melting. A succession of metal tapes is built into a three-dimensional shape, with periodic machining operations to create the detailed shape.

Regulating comfort in small commercial buildings could become more efficient and less expensive thanks to an innovative low-cost wireless sensor technology.

Velodyne LiDAR is a division of Velodyne Acoustics Inc. It develops and commercialises a pioneering LiDAR sensor technology that has attracted a lot of attention in the automotive sector since it was adopted by Google for the development of their autonomous car.

A new simple tool developed by nanoengineers is opening the door to an era when anyone will be able to build sensors, anywhere, including physicians in the clinic, patients in their home and soldiers in the field.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 10 March 2015 discussing the manufacturing and commercialisation progress for printed sensors.

Wearable Life Sciences was formed in 2014. They produce electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) devices for use in sporting and medical applications. Founders Philipp Schwarz, Kay Rathschlag and Patrick Thume come from buisness, marketing and sports science backgrounds. Their team now consists of 12 full time staff, including electronics, textile and software engineers, and an advisory board including the Head of R&D at a major German DAX company, and other prominent industry figures.

Primo1D was founded in August 2013 and has his headquarters in the MINATEC Campus in Grenoble, France. The company won an "Innovation Award" at the Techtextil/Avantex congress. Their E-Thread technology enables small silicon ICs to be integrated in textile.

The printed electronics industry shows a huge interest in sensors as it seeks to forget the failures from the past.

Profile of Dow Corning's activities in silicone thermal interface materials. They have 41 commercially available materials and are developing new form factors and new physical properties to increase the applicability.