Future Sensors for Smart Objects by Printing Technologies in Industry 4.0 Scenario

Abstract

Industry 4.0 has radically been transforming the production processes and systems with the adoption of enabling technologies, such as Internet of things (IoT), big data, additive manufacturing (AM), and cloud computing. In this context, sensors are essential to extract information about production, spare parts, equipment health, and environmental conditions necessary for improving many aspects of industrial processes (flexibility, efficiency, costs, etc.). Sensors should be placed everywhere (on machines, smart devices, objects, and tools) inside the factory to monitor in real-time physical quantities such as temperature, vibrations, deformations that could affect the production. Printed electronics (PE) offers techniques to produce unconventional sensor and systems or to make conventional objects “smart”. This work aims to analyze innovative PE technologies—inkjet printing and aerosol jet printing in combination with photonic curing—as manufacturing technologies for electronics and sensors to be integrated into objects, showing a series of sensors fabricated by PE as applications that will be adopted for smart objects and Industry 4.0.

Aerosol‐Jet Printed Sensors for Environmental, Safety, and Health Monitoring: A Review

“…Smart objects containing sensing components to acquire and communicate relevant information represent another evolving area; thus, direct printing of such components onto geometrically challenging objects represents a cutting‐edge development in the digital transformation of manufacturing and production in various industrial applications, including healthcare, agriculture, and urban development. [ 136 ] Ordinary objects can be transformed into smart objects via incorporating sensors, electronics, and network protocols, which in turn can enable data‐informed decisions from situational context. [ 137 ] As a natural extension, equipping objects with printed strain sensing capabilities has attracted significant interest from the scientific and industrial communities.…”

Impact of In-Soil Ageing Effect on PLA Printed Parts Tensile Properties

“…It has radically transformed production processes and systems with the adoption of enabling technologies such as additive manufacturing (AM). In this context, additive manufacturing offers agility and customer focus in any industry, enabling multi-material, free manufacturing and flexibility [ 1 , 2 ].…”

A Preliminary Study on Flexible Temperature Sensors for Eskin Medical Devices

“…Thus, this technique allows a quick and cheap prototyping that is ideal in the research frame. AJP basic principles are already described in literature [12]. Briefly, three flows of gases are used to atomize the ink (atomizer flow), control the dimension of the particles (exhaust flow) and to focus the aerosol on the nozzle (sheath flow).…”