Cost-Effective Printed Sensors for the IoT/IIoT

Sensors are the heart of the IoT — and printed organic sensors can be used in ways that others cannot. They are lightweight, flexible, stretchable, and soft, so they can bend, twist, or conform to any surface. They can be laminated onto fabric or provide a soft interaction between a robot and an object. New applications are evolving as these sensors become more sophisticated, reliable, and inexpensive. They can be productively used in areas such as communication, information processing, security, medicine, biomedical research, and environmental health. They are more sustainable since they are chemically synthesized rather than using materials that are mined from the earth. That means they can be used to make biodegradable or recyclable devices. Three of the more common types of printed organic sensors are for pressure, temperature, or gas.