Printing mechanical sensors

Roberto Saracco March 4, 2015 Blog 132 Views

Researchers at the university of Washington have teamed up; engineers and chemists have been working together to invent a way to print, using a 3D printer mechanical sensors. The material changes its structure under stress and this result in color change that can be easily observed.
The 3D printer used has two printing head, to be able to print two different materials at the same time. The first head is uses polycaprolactone, the second one a polycaprolactone that contains a minimal percentage of spiropyran molecules (less than 0.5%). This is the molecule that changes color once subject to stress.
By varying the percentage and distribution of the molecule and the deposition of the second material researchers are able to create mechanical sensors that are sensitive to different types of stress.
They are envisaging application in building to signal stress in the structures, as well as insertion in football players helmets. Once hit the helmet can report the stress and the amount of it by making color appear on its surface.
Creating different types of sensors becomes a matter of changing the program and directing the printer to use different components in different places. This provide great flexibility at very low cost. It is also possibile to create an object that can report the history of stress over time.

About Roberto Saracco

Roberto Saracco fell in love with technology and its implications long time ago. His background is in math and computer science. Until April 2017 he led the EIT Digital Italian Node and then was head of the Industrial Doctoral School of EIT Digital up to September 2018. Previously, up to December 2011 he was the Director of the Telecom Italia Future Centre in Venice, looking at the interplay of technology evolution, economics and society. At the turn of the century he led a World Bank-Infodev project to stimulate entrepreneurship in Latin America. He is a senior member of IEEE where he leads the New Initiative Committee and co-chairs the Digital Reality Initiative. He is a member of the IEEE in 2050 Ad Hoc Committee. He teaches a Master course on Technology Forecasting and Market impact at the University of Trento. He has published over 100 papers in journals and magazines and 14 books.

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