Systems and methods for strain sensing using aerosol jet printing of flexible capacitive strain gauges

A method comprising:

• providing a flexible substrate having a flexible integrated circuit with at least one input electrode positioned on a surface of the flexible substrate;
• and
• aerosol jet printing a conductive ink layer onto the surface of the flexible substrate, the conductive ink layer having a pattern that includes a first set of fingers interdigitated with a second set of fingers;
• applying a portion of the conductive ink layer to the at least one input electrode.

A system comprising:

• a flexible substrate;
• a flexible integrated circuit within the flexible substrate, the integrated circuit having at least one input electrode positioned on a surface of the flexible substrate;
• an aerosol-jet printed conductive ink layer disposed on the surface of the flexible substrate, the aerosol jet printed conductive ink layer having a pattern that includes a first set of fingers interdigitated with a second set of fingers, the aerosol-jet printed conductive ink layer in contact with the at least one input electrode;
• and
• a structure, the flexible substrate attached to the structure to enable a capacitance between the first set of interdigitated fingers and the second set of interdigitated fingers to change based on strain along the structure.