12. Skin Electronics¶

This week, we explored the fascinating world of skin electronics: wearable technology designed specifically to be placed directly on the skin. These innovations are revolutionizing the way we think about wearable devices, as they can monitor health metrics, enhance interactions, and even blend seamlessly into our daily lives.

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In collaboration with Ailin Sandlien, we decided to extend our Wearables week assignment by merging it with this week's focus on skin electronics. We explored how these technologies could not only be functional but also comfortable and intuitive to wear, pushing the boundaries of what wearables can do.

References¶

Temporary tattoo

Reference

A Japanese research group at the University of Tokyo shared an innovative development .They have created a "tattoo-style" sensor that can be placed directly on the skin and lasts for up to a week. This skin-like wearable sensor opens up a new realm of possibilities for monitoring health, with potential applications in everything from fitness tracking to medical diagnostics.

The sensor is ultrathin and flexible, designed to be as unobtrusive as possible while maintaining functionality. It adheres to the skin similarly to a temporary tattoo, allowing for a level of comfort and flexibility not typically seen in traditional wearable electronics. What makes this particularly interesting is its longevity, lasting several days without needing to be replaced, which makes it far more practical for long-term health monitoring compared to other devices that need frequent charging or replacing.

This technology is an exciting step toward making wearable electronics even more integrated with the human body, creating a seamless experience between the user and the technology. It aligns well with our exploration of skin electronics this week, as it showcases how these devices can merge with our skin, becoming both functional and barely noticeable in everyday life.

Dissolvable skin electronics

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Stanford scientists shared an ultra-thin electronics that are designed to dissolve into the human body. These electronics are made from biodegradable materials, allowing them to safely break down once they’ve served their purpose, eliminating the need for removal or disposal.

The primary focus of this technology is medical applications. The dissolvable electronics could be used for a variety of purposes, such as monitoring health conditions or delivering medication, and then dissolve harmlessly over time once they've completed their task. This is a major step forward in minimizing the environmental impact of electronics and eliminating the need for invasive procedures to remove implants.

The materials used in these devices are not only flexible and lightweight but also biocompatible, meaning they can interact with the human body without causing harm or irritation. This breakthrough opens up exciting possibilities for both short-term health monitoring and treatments, paving the way for smarter, more sustainable medical wearables.

DuoSkin

Tools¶

Continuing the project¶

As previously mentioned, we set out to revisit the Wearables Week assignment with a fresh approach. Our previous project involved creating a bag made from bioplastics, which was integrated with a magnetic sensor connected to an Adafruit Flora. The system was designed to activate when a magnet was brought near the sensor, triggering the built-in Neopixels on the Adafruit Flora and the additional LEDs attached to the circuit to light up.

In addition, the Adafruit Flora featured a built-in sensor that detected the angle at which the device was positioned. Based on its orientation, the Neopixels would change color, providing an interactive and dynamic response. To power the entire system, a battery was incorporated into the bag to ensure all components functioned properly.

When we decided to integrate this project with skin electronics, we encountered an issue: the magnetic sensor was broken. This setback required us to rethink our approach and find an alternative solution to make the system work as intended. Despite the challenge, we were determined to continue combining wearable technology with innovative materials like bioplastics and flexible electronics, pushing the boundaries of functional and sustainable design.

Since the most important part of this project was to combine with skin electronics we decided to remove the sensor for complete and focus on making it work attached to the skin.

Design¶

Reference

Once we finalized our design, it was time to bring everything together and build the project. Unfortunately, we encountered some connection issues that we couldn’t resolve. Despite testing different configurations, the connections didn’t work as expected, which prevented us from getting the system to function properly. It was a frustrating challenge, but it highlighted the complexities involved in integrating electronics and wearable components.

Code¶

Since the project had changed we had to alter the code. For it we took the code we had before and deleted the part that refered to the magentic sensor. This is the new code that consists on the angle sensor and the activiation of the built in pixels and the connected LEDs.

#include <Adafruit_CircuitPlayground.h>

#define SLOUCH_ANGLEMAX       200
#define SLOUCH_ANGLEMIN       -40
#define GRAVITY             9.80665   // standard gravity (m/s^s)
#define RAD2DEG             52.29578  // convert radians to degrees

int currentAngle;
int led_Pin = 3;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600); //Start the serial connection to the computer
  CircuitPlayground.begin();
  pinMode(led_Pin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  currentAngle = RAD2DEG * asin(-CircuitPlayground.motionZ() / GRAVITY);
  delay(100); //Add in 100mS of delay to slow the readings to 10 times per second
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(0, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(1, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(2, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(3, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(4, 178, 34, 34);

    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(5, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(6, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(7, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(8, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(9, 178, 34, 34);
    digitalWrite(led_Pin, HIGH);
    if (currentAngle > SLOUCH_ANGLEMAX || currentAngle <SLOUCH_ANGLEMIN ) {
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(0, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(1, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(2, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(3, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(4, 184, 134, 11);

    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(5, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(6, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(7, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(8, 184, 134, 11);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(9, 184, 134, 11);     
  }

  else
  {
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(0, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(1, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(2, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(3, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(4, 178, 34, 34);

    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(5, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(6, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(7, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(8, 178, 34, 34);
    CircuitPlayground.setPixelColor(9, 178, 34, 34);
    digitalWrite(led_Pin, HIGH);
  }

}

Results¶

Reference