Technology Development
Smart Materials
ESI’s Dielectric Elastomer Transducer (DET) is a novel material suitable for electroactive-polymer actuation and sensing. DET provides high-power to mass ratio. The novelty is in the fabrication process that is based on a combination of three unique performance-enhancing fabrication steps. (Patents granted.)
Application
ESI Active Materials is developing an electro-active neck support system (NECSUS) for subjects wearing helmet or head mounting systems and suffering neck pain or injuries. Self-tuning adaptive compliance of the circumferentially distributed support elements embedded into a comfortable wearable garment provides desired neck support in flexion/extension postures of the user’s head with limiting the motion of the neck/head during operation. The unit consists of smart materials that will become stiffer upon activation and provide larger support force as a result. Manual or automatic control allows for the tuning of desired support level according to the workload.
More details are presented at www.esiactivematerials.com.
Miniature Gas Sensors
ESI is developing a novel architecture for miniature gas concentration sensors utilizing solid-state photonic MEMS. The miniature multi-fold waveguide gas sensor is designed to detect gas concentration utilizing optics, lasers, and photo detectors based on the principle of waveform absorption. It is also effective for detecting biochemical hazards if using the laser at the proper wavelength. Laser-detector matrix architecture is used to enable the detection of multiple gas contents with dual-laser-detector architecture for reliable operation of the sensor over a wide range of pressure, temperature, and humidity.