Manufacturing And Evaluation Of Stretchable Embroidered Passive Rfid Tags On 3d-printed Substrates
Khan, Zahangir (2018)
2018
Electrical Engineering
Tieto- ja sähkötekniikan tiedekunta - Faculty of Computing and Electrical Engineering
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2018-08-15
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201808142133
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201808142133
Tiivistelmä
Stretchable electronics is an emerging field of electronics where the devices produced can undergo several mechanical stress conditions but maintain its structural integrity and electrical performance. Categorized under flexible electronics, it is still emerging as a new field of study where the flexible products produced are subjected to extreme mechanical conditions, like stretch and other mechanically induced stresses. It is envisioned that flexible and stretchable electronics will replace the traditional solid-state electronics that we are accustomed to in our everyday lives.
The challenges that lie ahead of flexible and stretchable electronics is the research and development of new materials that adhere to its requirements. Some new materials have already been developed and have been used commercially in a limited capacity, especially in the field of biomedical technology. Development of new materials, which usually involve adjustment of the physical and chemical properties of known materials to achieve the requirements of flexibility and stretch abilities, has been a challenging process.
This thesis is a study of one such material, known as NinjaFlex, a flexible material used for 3D printing, and is used for manufacturing products which are flexible. Using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) printing methods, flexible substrates were produced, upon which an antenna pattern was embroidered using conductive thread, and then a tag IC was attached on the matching part using conductive glue, hence developing passive Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags with different structural properties for observing their read ranges under stretch conditions.
Despite the challenges encountered during the development process, the tags performed well within the desired parameters. The tags responded to the reader’s signal at optimal ranges. The tags, whose original length is of 14 cm each, responded to the reader at acceptable read ranges despite being subjected to stress causing its length to change by 2 cm.
Further improvements in the testing processes could be achieved if the tags are produced in a more automated process, and avoidance of signal affecting factors that resulted in the outcomes in this thesis.
The challenges that lie ahead of flexible and stretchable electronics is the research and development of new materials that adhere to its requirements. Some new materials have already been developed and have been used commercially in a limited capacity, especially in the field of biomedical technology. Development of new materials, which usually involve adjustment of the physical and chemical properties of known materials to achieve the requirements of flexibility and stretch abilities, has been a challenging process.
This thesis is a study of one such material, known as NinjaFlex, a flexible material used for 3D printing, and is used for manufacturing products which are flexible. Using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) printing methods, flexible substrates were produced, upon which an antenna pattern was embroidered using conductive thread, and then a tag IC was attached on the matching part using conductive glue, hence developing passive Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags with different structural properties for observing their read ranges under stretch conditions.
Despite the challenges encountered during the development process, the tags performed well within the desired parameters. The tags responded to the reader’s signal at optimal ranges. The tags, whose original length is of 14 cm each, responded to the reader at acceptable read ranges despite being subjected to stress causing its length to change by 2 cm.
Further improvements in the testing processes could be achieved if the tags are produced in a more automated process, and avoidance of signal affecting factors that resulted in the outcomes in this thesis.