Design of a Robust Tool for Deploying Large-Area Stretchable Sensor Networks from Microscale to Macroscale

An investigation was conducted to develop an effective automated tool to deploy micro-fabricated stretchable networks of distributed sensors onto the surface of large structures at macroscale to create "smart" structures with embedded distributed sensor networks. Integrating a large network of distributed sensors with structures has been a major challenge in the design of so-called smart structures or devices for cyber-physical applications where a large amount of usage data from structures or devices can be generated for artificial intelligence applications. Indeed, many "island-and-serpentine"-type distributed sensor networks, while promising, remain difficult to deploy. This study aims to enable such networks to be deployed in a safe, automated, and efficient way. To this end, a scissor-hinge controlled system was proposed as the basis for a deployment mechanism for such stretchable sensor networks (SSNs). A model based on a kinematic scissor-hinge mechanism was developed to simulate and design the proposed system to automatically stretch a micro-scaled square network with uniformly distributed sensor nodes. A prototype of an automatic scissor-hinge stretchable tool was constructed during the study with an array of four scissor-hinge mechanisms, each belt-driven by a single stepper motor. Two micro-fabricated SSNs from a 100 mm wafer were fabricated at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility for this deployment study. The networks were designed to be able to cover an area 100 times their manufacturing size (from a 100 mm diameter wafer to a 1 m2 active area) once stretched. It was demonstrated that the proposed deployment tool could place sensor nodes in prescribed locations efficiently within a drastically shorter time than in current labor-intensive manual deployment methods.