A self-powered vector motion sensor for smart robotics and personalized medical rehabilitation

Automatic control sensor system has penetrated into all areas to realize smart robotics, personalized medical rehabilitation and artificial intelligence. As the indispensable component, vector motion sensor with high precision and orientation identification ability can efficiency improve intelligent life experience. Here, we propose a self-powered vector motion sensor based on dual-mode triboelectric nanogenerator, which can simultaneously generate alternative-current signal to monitor vector parameters via pulse signal counts and direct-current signal to directly judge movement direction via presence or absence of signal. By subdividing friction and induction electrodes, the precision of DM-TENG sensor can reach up a record value of 1.7 µm for displacement sensing and 0.05° for angle sensing, respectively. Meanwhile, it can maintain a good stability after running for 250,000 times. Furthermore, the self-powered DM-TENG sensors have been successfully demonstrated in smart robotics and personalized medical rehabilitation, which greatly promotes the application of self-powered TENG sensors in automatic control sensor system for smart robotics, personalized medical rehabilitation and artificial intelligence. A self-powered vector sensor based on DM-TENG is proposed, which can simultaneously generate alternative-current signal to monitor vector parameters via pulse signal counts and direct-current signal to directly judge movement direction via presence or absence of signal, and achieve high precision, simple production and stability. The DM-TENG sensor shows a great application potential in smart robotics, AI and personalized medical rehabilitation. • Developing a highly integrated self-powered dual-type signal vector motion sensor. Without external energy supply, the DM-TENG sensor can convert mechanical motion into electrical signal to realize multi-vector parameter monitoring simultaneously, e.g., the linear/angle displacement, linear/angle velocity, as well as the linear/angle movement direction, exhibiting the diversity and designability of sensing signal in TENG sensors. • Achieving multi-vector parameter monitoring and orientation identification simultaneously. Based on designed DM-TENG, the self-powered vector motion sensor can simultaneously generate AC signal to monitor vector parameters via pulse signal counts and DC signal to directly judge movement direction via presence or absence of signal. Simplify, when the vector sensor moves at positive direction, both AC and DC signal can be generated from DM-TENG via electrostatic induction and electrostatic breakdown effect. When the vector sensor moves at negative direction, the typical AC can still produce to monitor vector parameters, but DC will disappear and be replaced with a small induced current due to the residual induced charge in blank area. Through pulse signal counts of AC and 0/1 signal judgment of DC, multi-vector parameter monitoring and orientation identification were simultaneously achieved in this work. • Largely improving the precision of self-powered vector sensor by subdividing electrodes. By subdividing friction and induction electrodes, the precision of DM-TENG sensor can reach up a record value of 1.7 µm for displacement sensing and 0.05° for angle sensing, respectively. • Exhibiting excellent stability of the proposed vector sensor. In addition, DML-TENG has good stability, the accuracy of DML-TENG sensor remains stable after 250,000 cycles of reciprocating motion, as well as free from the influence of environment. • Providing the necessary vector motion sensor for the smart robotics and personalized medical rehabilitation. The smart robotics and personalized medical rehabilitation automatic control systems require vector motion sensors to determine the motion direction and position of robot/personal brace. The DM-TENG sensor has been demonstrated in robot and personalized medical rehabilitation to obtain vector motion parameters and track motion trajectory simultaneously. This sensor neither requires a multi-electrode structure, nor does it cause crosstalk problems between multiple channels, which is beneficial to accelerate the application of TENG in robotics, AI, Internet of Things and personalized medicine.