Application of Piezo plastics - in wearable Health- products

Application of Piezo plastics - in wearable Health- products

Katalin, D.

Tempelman, E. (mentor)
Stappers, P.J. (mentor)
Romero Herrera, N. (mentor)
Groen, P. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Design Engineering

Master of Science Integrated Product Design

2014-05-19

The goal of the graduation project is to explore application possibilities for a novel piezo plastic, that is developed recently at TU Delft, Novel Aerospace Materials group (NovAM) and currently being further developed in the EU FP7 project Light Touch Matters (LTM Project). In that sense the aim is to provide a real life example and context of application that is translated into requirements of material properties. The process of the project relies on a design-driven innovation method that has a double focus: • The novelty of the message/meaning of the new interaction possibilities that the material could bring into a given context. • The novelty of the material by revealing possible new functions and the material’s unique selling points. In the current project a boundary domain of focus is defined, which is the area of Health and Well-being. Based on 1st iteration project results from Light.Touch.Matters, the focus is identified in a need area where such material can make a difference, namely – intelligent self-quantification, with a strong focus of prevention and prediction. During the exploration phase it turned out that the combination of unique technical and sensorial properties of the material makes it possible to envision unusual user-product interactions and create new meanings within the context of self-quantification. The smart attribute of the material, namely that is reacts to “different types of touch” especially the dynamic change during material deflection, make it possible to create scenarios that has a strong focus of non-obtrusive bio-data measurement. Sensorial properties of the plastic – mainly its ductility and 3D shapeability – make it feasible to seamlessly integrate it into wearable clothing. The creation of new meaningful scenarios, through several concept ideas, leads to a final concept/context proposal. Such application features the novel material as an insole that measures real-time pressure distribution during running. The measurement monitors a correct running behaviour and strike pattern. Based on universal running guidelines and individual running assessment feedback is being given to the runner throughout the exercise. In case an overload pressure is detected under inadequate points of the feet, a composed sound feedback is sent to the user In order to relate such concept to future material requirements, it is necessary to build and mimic the experience and measurement itself. Substituting material – PVDF – was used for prototyping, since the development of LTM piezo-plastics are still in initial stage. PVDF has the same technological properties – in sense of output signal – therefore it is suitable to provide real insights for the material development stream based on test results. Iterative prototyping, material and user testing make it possible to reflect on the envisioned context, generate guidelines for further concept development, and provide insights into novel material integration.

Novel piezo plastic
PVDF
application
intelligent self-quantification
design

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:051679f4-91c1-4069-8df3-0d5fb3b3c493

2015-05-19

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 Katalin, D.