• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.263-269
• /
• 2017

Recently, soft robots using soft materials are presented. Thanks to soft materials, soft robots have flexible, highly-stretchable or adaptable features. However, due to the flexibility of soft material, it is hard for soft robots to control accurately or perform high force. To deal with these limitations, variable stiffness technology, which enables the stiffness control of structure, has been developed. In this research, a dual-stiffness structure that is actuated by the assembly of two flexible structures are presented. Each flexible structure consists of flexible film part and rigid parts placed at regular intervals. The flexibility of film between rigid parts allows each structure to move softly. On the other hand, by combining two structures rigid part of each part constrain the degrees of freedom of the other side part. And this causes the stiffness of whole structure to be increased. This paper will cover concepts, design, analysis and experiments of this structure.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.34-42
• /
• 2014

Flexible devices have been developed from their rigid, heavy origins to become bendable, stretchable and portable. Such a paper displays, e-skin, textile electronics are emerging research areas and became a mainstream of overall industry. Thin film transistors, diodes and sensors built on plastic sheets, textile and other unconventional substrates have a potential applications in wearable displays, biomedical devices and electronic system. In this review, we describe current trends in technologies for flexible/wearable electronics.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2023

With an attempt to investigate the correlation between the internal pressure distribution of slit nozzle and the thickness uniformity of slot-coated thin films, we have performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of slit nozzles and slot coating of high-viscosity (4,800 cPs) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using a gantry slot-die coater. We have calculated the coefficient of variation (CV) to quantify the pressure and velocity distributions inside the slit nozzle and the thickness non-uniformity of slot-coated PDMS films. The pressure distribution inside the cavity and the velocity distribution at the outlet are analyzed by varying the shim thickness and flow rate. We have shown that the cavity pressure uniformity and film thickness uniformity are enhanced by reducing the shim thickness. It is addressed that the CV value of the cavity pressure that can ensure the thickness non-uniformity of less than 5% is equal to and less than 1%, which is achievable with the shim thickness of 150 ㎛. It is also found that as the flow rate increases, the average cavity pressure is increased with the CV value of the pressure unchanged and the maximum coating speed is increased. As the shim thickness is reduced, however, the maximum coating speed and flow rate decrease. The highly uniform PDMS films shows the tensile strain as high as 180%, which can be used as a stretchable substrate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.17-22
• /
• 2011

ZnO-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) have been fabricated and the mechanical characteristics of electric circuits, such as stress, strain, and deformation are analyzed by the finite element method (FEM). In this study, a mechanical-stability design guide for such systems is proposed; this design takes into account the stress and deformation of the bridge to estimate the stress distribution in an $SiO_2$ film with 0 to 5% stretched on 0.5-${\mu}m$-thick. The predicted buckle amplitude of $SiO_2$ bridges agrees well with experimental results within 0.5% error. The stress and strain at the contact point between bridges and a pad were measured in a previous structural analysis. These structural analysis suggest that the numerical measurement of deformation, SU-8 coating thickness for Neutral Mechanical Plane (NMP) and ITO electrode size on a dielectric layer was useful in enhancing the structural and electrical stabilities.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.67 no.3
• /
• pp.406-412
• /
• 2018

This paper describes the fabrication process of laser induced graphene (LIG) and its transfer method on to a flexible and stretchable PDMS substrate. By irradiating CO2 laser on a polyimide(PI) film surface, a localized high temperature is created, resulting in a three-dimensional porous graphene network structure with good conductivity. This LIG electrode is relatively easy to fabricate and since it is very weak the LIG electrode was transferred to a flexible PDMS substrate to increase the sturdiness as well as possible use in flexible applications. Sheet resistance, thickness, and electrochemical activity of the fabricated in-situ LIG electrodes have been examined and compared with the LIG electrodes after transferring to PDMS elastomer. The properties of the LIG electrodes were also examined depending on the $CO_2$ laser power. As the irradiated laser power increased, the LIG electrode resistance decreases and the LIG electrode thickness increased. At 4.8 W of laser power, the average sheet resistance and thickness of the fabricated LIG electrodes were approximately $31.7{\Omega}/{\Box}$ and $62.67{\mu}m$, respectively. Moreover, the electrochemical activity of the fabricated LIG electrode at 4.8 W of laser power showed a high oxidation current of $28.2{\mu}A$ after transferring to PDMS.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.474-481
• /
• 2018

For this study, we developed clothing in which textile materials that were excellent weather control function for the cold environment and we performed the human subject test with developed clothing to determine the thermal comfort. We used 2 clothing samples developed (A and B, hollow yarn+moisture absorption/quick drying yarn, 3 layers, high stretchable, heat reflection film and lamination treated) and a control sample (Ctrl.) for the human subject test and 8 adult males were used as a human subjects and environmental conditions of chamber were $0{\pm}1^{\circ}C$. $50{\pm}5%RH$, 0.3m/sec. The results were as follows: The average skin temperature and hand, thigh temperature of B were higher than B and Ctrl. (p<.05). The micro-climates of B were near to thermal comfort range which is $32{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and $50{\pm}10%\;RH$. The chest temperature of B was significantly higher than others (p<.05). The relative humidity of B was lower than others and kept stable rather than others. The thermal sensation of B was near the "neutral" and was significantly different from Ctrl. (p<.01) and the weight loss of B was lower than Ctrl. (p<.05). The counting task and hand temperature was positively related and the counting task value of B and A is bigger than Ctrl. and that of A was bigger than Ctrl. (p<.05).