Cell-Bridge-Based Connection of High Density Sensor Elements

In this paper, we propose a novel network system named “cell bridge system” for a high-density flexible sensor and actuator array. The cell bridge system consists of two elements, a “cell bridge” and a “cell”. The cell bridge is a signal transmission device by a LSI chip based on 0.35um CMOS process. The cell is a two-dimensional conductive area where the signal is transmitted. The proposed system is constructed by connecting the cell bridge at the boundary between a pair of cells with two electrical contacts. The cell bridges combine the cells into an array without long wires. As the preliminary step, we developed prototype cell bridges and fabricated a stretchable network sheet to examine the communication function of the proposed system. The experimental results showed the proposed system was capable of high-speed communication. We also proposed a flexible speaker array using cell bridge system and fabricated a flexible speaker element for it.