Connect with us

Tech

3D-printed smart materials boost tactile sensor performance in wearable devices

Published

on

3D-printed smart materials boost tactile sensor performance in wearable devices


The proposed metamaterial-based tactile sensing technology is expected to revolutionize the design of wearable devices and health monitoring. Credit: Dr. Soonjae Pyo / SeoulTech

Tactile sensors are widely used in robotics, prosthetics, wearable devices, and health care monitoring. These devices detect and convert external stimuli such as pressure and force into electrical signals, facilitating effective environmental detection.

Scientists have made extensive efforts to improve the performance of in terms of sensing range and sensitivity.

In this context, mechanical metamaterials are highly promising. Specifically, auxetic (AMMs)—possessing a negative Poisson’s ratio—enable inward contraction and localized strain concentration upon compression. These counterintuitive behaviors render them lucrative options for designing sensors and actuators with excellent properties.

However, existing AMM technology suffers from fabrication and integration challenges.

Addressing this knowledge gap, a team of researchers from the Seoul National University of Science and Technology, led by Mr. Mingyu Kang, the first author of the study and a Master’s course student in the Department of Mechanical Design and Robot Engineering, and including Dr. Soonjae Pyo, an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical System Design Engineering, have proposed a novel 3D AMM-based tactile sensing platform based on a cubic lattice with spherical voids and fabricated using digital light processing-based 3D printing.

Their findings are published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The researchers explored the tactile sensing platform, utilizing 3D-printed auxetic metamaterials in both capacitive and piezoresistive sensing modes. While the sensor responds to pressure via electrode spacing and dielectric distribution modulation in the first mode, the latter mode leverages a conformally coated network of carbon nanotubes that alters resistance under load.

“The unique negative Poisson’s ratio behavior utilized by our technology induces inward contraction under compression, concentrating strain in the sensing region and enhancing sensitivity,” said Mr. Kang.

“Beyond this fundamental mechanism, our auxetic design further strengthens sensor performance in three critical aspects: sensitivity enhancement through localized strain concentration, exceptional performance stability when embedded within confined structures, and crosstalk minimization between adjacent sensing units.

“Unlike conventional porous structures, this design minimizes lateral expansion, improving wearability and reducing interference when integrated into devices such as smart insoles or robotic grippers.

“Furthermore, the use of digital light processing-based 3D printing enables precise structural programming of sensor performance, allowing geometry-based customization without changing the base material.”

The team showcased two proof-of-concept scenarios highlighting the novelty of their work: a tactile array for spatial pressure mapping and object classification, as well as a wearable insole system with gait pattern monitoring and pronation type detection capabilities.

According to Dr. Pyo, “The proposed sensor platform can be integrated into smart insoles for gait monitoring and pronation analysis, robotic hands for precise object manipulation, and wearable health monitoring systems that require comfortable sensing without disrupting daily life.

“Importantly, the auxetic structure preserves its sensitivity and stability even when confined within rigid housings, such as insole layers, where conventional porous lattices typically lose performance.

“Its scalability and compatibility with various transduction modes also make it suitable for pressure mapping surfaces, rehabilitation devices, and human-robot interaction interfaces that require high sensitivity and mechanical robustness.”

In the next decade, auxetic-structured 3D-printed tactile sensors could form the backbone of next-generation wearable electronics, enabling continuous, high-fidelity monitoring of human movement, posture, and health metrics.

Their structural adaptability and material independence could drive the creation of custom-fit, application-specific sensors for personalized medicine, advanced prosthetics, and immersive haptic feedback systems.

As additive manufacturing becomes more accessible, mass-customized tactile interfaces with programmable performance may become standard in consumer products, health care, and robotics.

More information:
Mingyu Kang et al, Additively Manufactured 3D Auxetic Metamaterials for Structurally Guided Capacitive and Resistive Tactile Sensing, Advanced Functional Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202509704

Citation:
3D-printed smart materials boost tactile sensor performance in wearable devices (2025, August 29)
retrieved 29 August 2025
from https://techxplore.com/news/2025-08-3d-smart-materials-boost-tactile.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.





Source link

Tech

Lenovo’s Latest Wacky Concepts Include a Laptop With a Built-In Portable Monitor

Published

on

Lenovo’s Latest Wacky Concepts Include a Laptop With a Built-In Portable Monitor


Do you like having a second screen with your computer setup? What if your laptop could carry a second screen for you? That’s the idea behind Lenovo’s latest proof of concept, the ThinkBook Modular AI PC, announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Lenovo is never shy to show off wacky, weird concept laptops. We’ve seen a PC with a transparent screen, one with a rollable OLED screen, a swiveling screen, and another with a flippy screen. At CES earlier this year, the company showed off a gaming laptop with a display that expands at the push of a button. Sometimes, these concepts turn into real products that go on sale (often in limited quantities).

At MWC 2026, Lenovo trotted out three concepts. While it’s unclear whether any of them will become real, purchasable products, there’s some unique utility here, and a peek at how computing experiences could change in the future.

A Laptop With a Built-In Portable Screen

The ThinkBook Modular AI PC has a second screen hanging magnetically off the back of the laptop, and it can show content to people sitting in front of you.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Image may contain Computer Electronics Laptop Pc Computer Hardware Computer Keyboard Hardware Monitor and Screen

This is with the second screen removed from the back and placed in front of the main display. The keyboard is removable and works via Bluetooth.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

As someone with a multi-screen setup at home and a fondness for portable monitors, the ThinkBook Modular AI PC appeals to me the most. At first glance, it looks like a normal laptop. Take a look behind, and you’ll notice there’s a second screen magnetically hanging off the back of the laptop, like a koala carrying a baby on its back.

The screen is connected to the laptop using pogo-pin connectors, so you can use it in this state to display content to people in front of you, say, if you were making a presentation during a meeting. Alternatively, you can pop this second screen off, remove a hidden kickstand resting under the laptop, and magnetically attach it to the 14-inch screen so that you have a traditional portable monitor experience. (You’ll need to connect this to the laptop via a USB-C cable in this orientation.)

If you don’t have the desk space for that orientation, you can always remove the keyboard from the base and pop the second screen there—it’ll auto-connect to the laptop via the pogo pins, and you’ll be able to use the Bluetooth keyboard to type on a dual-screen setup that resembles the Asus ZenBook Duo. The whole system is a fantastically portable method of improving productivity on the go, and the laptop isn’t too thick or cumbersome.



Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

The 5 Big ‘Known Unknowns’ of Donald Trump’s New War With Iran

Published

on

The 5 Big ‘Known Unknowns’ of Donald Trump’s New War With Iran


More recently, Iran has been a regular adversary in cyberspace—and while it hasn’t demonstrated quite the acuity of Russia or China, Iran is “good at finding ways to maximize the impact of their capabilities,” says Jeff Greene, the former executive assistant director of cybersecurity at CISA. Iran, in particular, famously was responsible for a series of distributed-denial-of-service attacks on Wall Street institutions that worried financial markets, and its 2012 attack on Saudi Aramco and Qatar’s Rasgas marked some of the earliest destructive infrastructure cyberattacks.

Today, surely, Iran is weighing which of these tools, networks, and operatives it might press into a response—and where, exactly, that response might come. Given its history of terror campaigns and cyberattacks, there’s no reason to think that Iran’s retaliatory options are limited to missiles alone—or even to the Middle East at all.

Which leads to the biggest known unknown of all:

5. How does this end? There’s an apocryphal story about a 1970s conversation between Henry Kissinger and a Chinese leader—it’s told variously as either Mao-Tse Tung or Zhou Enlai. Asked about the legacy of the French revolution, the Chinese leader quipped, “Too soon to tell.” The story almost surely didn’t happen, but it’s useful in speaking to a larger truth particularly in societies as old as the 2,500-year-old Persian empire: History has a long tail.

As much as Trump (and the world) might hope that democracy breaks out in Iran this spring, the CIA’s official assessment in February was that if Khamenei was killed, he would be likely replaced with hardline figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And indeed, the fact that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against other targets in the Middle East continued throughout Saturday, even after the death of many senior regime officials—including, purportedly, the defense minister—belied the hope that the government was close to collapse.

The post-World War II history of Iran has surely hinged on three moments and its intersections with American foreign policy—the 1953 CIA coup, the 1979 revolution that removed the shah, and now the 2026 US attacks that have killed its supreme leader. In his recent bestselling book King of Kings, on the fall of the shah, longtime foreign correspondent Scott Anderson writes of 1979, “If one were to make a list of that small handful of revolutions that spurred change on a truly global scale in the modern era, that caused a paradigm shift in the way the world works, to the American, French, and Russian Revolutions might be added the Iranian.”

It is hard not to think today that we are living through a moment equally important in ways that we cannot yet fathom or imagine—and that we should be especially wary of any premature celebration or declarations of success given just how far-reaching Iran’s past turmoils have been.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly bragged about how he sees the military and Trump administration’s foreign policy as sending a message to America’s adversaries: “F-A-F-O,” playing off the vulgar colloquialism. Now, though, it’s the US doing the “F-A” portion in the skies over Iran—and the long arc of Iran’s history tells us that we’re a long, long way from the “F-O” part where we understand the consequences.


Let us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at mail@wired.com.



Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

This Backyard Smoker Delivers Results Even a Pitmaster Would Approve Of

Published

on

This Backyard Smoker Delivers Results Even a Pitmaster Would Approve Of


While my love of smoked meats is well-documented, my own journey into actually tending the fire started just last spring when I jumped at the opportunity to review the Traeger Woodridge Pro. When Recteq came calling with a similar offer to check out the Flagship 1600, I figured it would be a good way to stay warm all winter.

While the two smokers have a lot in common, the Recteq definitely feels like an upgrade from the Traeger I’ve been using. Not only does it have nearly twice the cooking space, but the huge pellet hopper, rounded barrel, and proper smokestack help me feel like a real pitmaster.

The trade-off is losing some of the usability features that make the Woodridge Pro a great first smoker. The setup isn’t as quite as simple, and the larger footprint and less ergonomic conditions require a little more experience or patience. With both options, excellent smoked meat is just a few button presses away, but speaking as someone with both in their backyard, I’ve been firing up the Recteq more often.

Getting Settled

Photograph: Brad Bourque

Setting up the Recteq wasn’t as time-consuming as the Woodridge, but it was more difficult to manage on my own. Some of the steps, like attaching the bull horns to the lid, or flipping the barrel onto its stand, would really benefit from a patient friend or loved one. Like most smokers, you’ll need to run a burn-in cycle at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to make sure there’s nothing left over from manufacturing or shipping. Given the amount of setup time and need to cool down the smoker after, I would recommend setting this up Friday afternoon if you want to smoke on a Saturday.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending