Fused thiophene-split oligothiophenes with high ionization potentials for OTFTs

Fused thiophene-split oligothiophenes were synthesized by Suzuki coupling. The relationship between the structure of these fused thiophene-split oligothiophenes and DH-6T (α,ω-dihexylsexithiophene) and their performance in OTFTs was discussed. The realignment of HTTfTTTH (2,5-bis-(5′-hexyl-[2,2′]bithiophenyl-5-yl)-thieno[3,2-b] thiophene) molecule on the substrate after annealing was revealed by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. A similar but novel compound, TTfTTT (2,5-bis-[2,2′]bithiophenyl-5-yl-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene), was also prepared and evaluated as an organic transistor material. Air stabilities of these three compounds in OTFT devices were affected mainly by chemical properties, but also by the ionization potentials (Ip) of these materials. Among the three compounds, HTTfTTTH had a higher Ip because the thiophene sequence was split by fused thiophene and the best air stability, due to the end-capping of its active α-positions by hexyl substitution.ArticleSynthetic Metals. 159(17-18):1890-1895 (2009)journal articl

Fabrication of a Textile-Based Wearable Blood Leakage Sensor Using Screen-Offset Printing

We fabricate a wearable blood leakage sensor on a cotton textile by combining two newly developed techniques. First, we employ a screen-offset printing technique that avoids blurring, short circuiting between adjacent conductive patterns, and electrode fracturing to form an interdigitated electrode structure for the sensor on a textile. Furthermore, we develop a scheme to distinguish blood from other substances by utilizing the specific dielectric dispersion of blood observed in the sub-megahertz frequency range. The sensor can detect blood volumes as low as 15 μL, which is significantly lower than those of commercially available products (which can detect approximately 1 mL of blood) and comparable to a recently reported value of approximately 10 μL. In this study, we merge two technologies to develop a more practical skin-friendly sensor that can be applied for safe, stress-free blood leakage monitoring during hemodialysis

DATSURYOKU Sensor—A Capacitive-Sensor-Based Belt for Predicting Muscle Tension: Preliminary Results

Excessive muscle tension is implicitly caused by inactivity or tension in daily activities, and it results in increased joint stiffness and vibration, and thus, poor performance, failure, and injury in sports. Therefore, the routine measurement of muscle tension is important. However, a co-contraction observed in excessive muscle tension cannot be easily detected because it does not appear in motion owing to the counteracting muscle tension, and it cannot be measured by conventional motion capture systems. Therefore, we focused on the physiological characteristics of muscle, that is, the increase in muscle belly cross-sectional area during activity and softening during relaxation. Furthermore, we measured muscle tension, especially co-contraction and relaxation, using a DATSURYOKU sensor, which measures the circumference of the applied part. The experiments showed high interclass correlation between muscle activities and circumference across maximal voluntary co-contractions of the thigh muscles and squats. Moreover, the circumference sensor can measure passive muscle deformation that does not appear in muscle activities. Therefore, the DATSURYOKU sensor showed the potential to routinely measure muscle tension and relaxation, thus avoiding the risk of failure and injury owing to excessive muscle tension and can contribute to the realization of preemptive medicine by measuring daily changes

Spatial Calibration of Humanoid Robot Flexible Tactile Skin for Human–Robot Interaction

Recent developments in robotics have enabled humanoid robots to be used in tasks where they have to physically interact with humans, including robot-supported caregiving. This interaction—referred to as physical human–robot interaction (pHRI)—requires physical contact between the robot and the human body; one way to improve this is to use efficient sensing methods for the physical contact. In this paper, we use a flexible tactile sensing array and integrate it as a tactile skin for the humanoid robot HRP-4C. As the sensor can take any shape due to its flexible property, a particular focus is given on its spatial calibration, i.e., the determination of the locations of the sensor cells and their normals when attached to the robot. For this purpose, a novel method of spatial calibration using B-spline surfaces has been developed. We demonstrate with two methods that this calibration method gives a good approximation of the sensor position and show that our flexible tactile sensor can be fully integrated on a robot and used as input for robot control tasks. These contributions are a first step toward the use of flexible tactile sensors in pHRI applications

Project overview on multimodal XR-AI platform for tele-rehab and the reciprocal care coupling with health guidance

The purpose of this project is to mitigate and solve issues regarding health care services such as rehabilitation and specific health guidance while alleviating spatio-temporal, economic, and cognitive constraints by establishing remote technology foundation. There are four themes in this project titled “Multimodal XR-AI (XR powered by AI) platform development for tele-rehabilitation and the reciprocal care coupling with health guidance.” In theme #1, we have been developing MR3 (Multi-Modal Mixed Reality for Remote Rehab) devices consisting of Wear and Mannequin for supporting detailed assessments of customers’ physical functions and tactile interaction respectively. The central issue of theme #2 is to support intrinsic motivation for rehabilitation and exercise training through XR technologies as in virtual co-embodiment and hand redirection. In addition, we have also been investigating how to deal with one-to-many (a small number of providers) and zero-to-many (no providers) situations. Theme #3 has aimed on establishing AI technology foundation for creating, monitoring progress of, and updating tele-rehab programs mainly for the upper limb. Systems for always-on monitoring during daily life and work developed in theme #4 is expected to be served as a common foundation for various tele-healthcare services.</p