Flex sensor

A flex sensor or bend sensor is a sensor that measures the amount of deflection or bending. Usually, the sensor is stuck to the surface, and resistance of sensor element is varied by bending the surface. Since the resistance is directly proportional to the amount of bend it is used as goniometer, and often called flexible potentiometer.

A conductive ink based flex sensor

Types of flex sensor
  • Conductive ink based flex sensor[1]
  • Fibre optic flex sensor[2]
  • Capacitive flex sensor[3]
  • Velostat flex sensor (popular among hobbyists)

Applications

Flex sensor is used in wide areas of research from computer interfaces, rehabilitation, security systems and even music interfaces.[4] It is also famous among students and Hobbyists.

Human Machine Interface devices

Dataglove is common HMI device, that is made possible by flex sensors. The sensing element of deflections of dataglove is flex sensor.

Rehabilitation Research

In Rehabilitation research, wired gloves or dataglove is used to record the joint movement.[5]

Security Systems

Movement of doors is monitored by placing the sensor at the hinge. Also, damage to metal structures can be identified using the sensor.[6][7]

References
  1. Flexible potentiometer, 1995-06-06, retrieved 2018-04-17
  2. Optical flex sensor, 1982-09-29, retrieved 2018-04-17
  3. Capacitive bend sensor, 1995-06-28, retrieved 2018-04-17
  4. Sreejan, Alapati; Yeole, Shivraj (2017-07-01). "A Review on Applications of Flex Sensors". International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering. 7: 97–100.
  5. Saggio, Giovanni (2014-01-01). "A novel array of flex sensors for a goniometric glove". Sensors and Actuators A: Physical. 205: 119–125. doi:10.1016/j.sna.2013.10.030. ISSN 0924-4247.
  6. Sreejan Alapati (2019-12-15), Flex sensor array, retrieved 2019-12-15
  7. Sreejan Alapati (2018-04-01), This technology can detect damage on your car and locker!, retrieved 2018-04-17
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