Digid’s nanoscale sensing technologies are believed to be the world’s smallest sensors — and they are set to get smaller. The German company recently announced that its patented printed electronics fabrication technology has been fully qualified for volume production of temperature and force sensors as small as 1 µm long. However, its technology roadmap forecasts future production of sensors only 10 nm long.
The company believes its nanoscale sensing technology provides the key to unlock the potential of multiple emerging markets, including physical AI and humanoid robots. In robotics, for instance, Moravec’s paradox — that robots struggle with tasks that humans find easy, such as handling a delicate wine glass — has persisted in part because robot hands lack the billions of nerve endings on a human finger. Now, Digid offers the opportunity for machines to mimic human sensory capabilities by applying nanoscale printed sensors to surfaces, such as a robot’s shell, in arrays of up to 16 x 16 sensors.
Digid announced that its nanoscale temperature and force sensors are ready for mass deployment. Image: Digid
Traditional sensor technology presents several challenges in such scenarios. Integrating a sensor into a medical device, for example, is often complex because the sensor and device have specific requirements that must align. Most sensors cannot be modified without significant cost and production issues, so device adjustments are often implemented instead. In contrast, Digid’s technology is adaptable to products and devices and uses low power, so concerns related to heat and high voltage are non-issues. They can be integrated directly into products or subassemblies without affecting the original use case. Because of their small size, customers can add features such as temperature measurement while preserving the product’s core functionality.
Other applications for Digid sensors include:
- Force sensing on the blade of a scalpel in robotic surgical equipment
- Temperature sensing on the tip of a temperature probe used in minimally invasive surgery
- Temperature sensors embedded inside battery cells, for safety and performance monitoring
- Biosensors for detecting biological objects such as viruses, or the chemical markers of drugs in the bloodstream
For each design project, the company supplies a custom sensor, a sensor assembly, and hardware and software integration support. The sensor provides either a voltage or resistance measurement output via an I2C interface. Digid signal processing software converts the raw measurement outputs to useful temperature or force data.
In addition to their nanoscale dimensions, the sensors offer additional benefits, including negligible self-heating or other distorting effects on sensor readings; highly accurate, linear measurement outputs; and minimal digital overhead.
“With the start of mass production of Digid sensors, the opportunities to embed sensing on almost any surface or in almost any device have become limitless,” said Konstantin Kloppstech, CTO of Digid. “Our sensor is so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Now it is up to the imaginations of design engineers to dream of uses for sensing where sensing has never before been possible.”
Digid
digid.com
Filed Under: Medical-device manufacture, SENSORS, Robotics • robotic grippers • end effectors
