Primary Investigator
Asimina Kiourti, Ph.D, Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - College of Engineering
STEAM Collaborator
Ryan L. Harne, Ph.D, Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - College of Engineering
Summary
This collaborative STEAM Powered Project will establish the efficacy of new cross-cutting technology --bridging wave physics, art, and mechanics --that will yield e-textile functionalities to enable unique, transformative advancements in applications as diverse as patient mental health rehabilitation, biophysical monitoring, and engineering structure characterization. The new idea of this project is a foldable e-textile antenna, whose conductive surfaces follow the conformations of an origami tessellation. The large shape change enabled by the proposed tessellated antenna is anticipated to result in orders of magnitude tuning of its resonant frequency. As such, the antenna can be integrated into objects as diverse as clothing, toys, and bridges to sense mechanical loads and flexure. The deformations are then unobtrusively monitored via remote broadband antenna to leverage the data for applications, such as human computer interfaces or human performance tracking. In addition to the broad application impacts of these efforts, the unique integration of origami engineering and wave physics also provides an engaging means to introduce science and math fundamentals to young audiences.
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