Integrated Circuit Design for Digital Computing and Information Processing of Mechanical Signals
AssigneeThe Penn State Research Foundation
InventorsRyan Lee Harne, Charles El Helou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A digital information processing device includes a soft material including a plurality of electrically conductive and electrically non-conductive regions. The soft material has a shape configuration configured to transform from an uncompressed configuration to fully compact configurations under an applied load. The electrically conductive regions form electrical networks that are in a closed or open state dependent upon the applied load acting on the soft material.
Claims20
A digital information processing device, comprising:
- a soft material including a plurality of electrically conductive and electrically non-conductive regions, the soft material having a shape configured to transform from an uncompressed configuration to fully compact configurations under an applied load,
- wherein the electrically conductive regions form electrical networks that are in a closed or open state dependent upon the applied load acting on the soft material.
A digital information processing device, comprising:
- a non-electrically conductive soft material substrate having a matrix of unit cells stacked together;
- and
- traces of electrically-conductive soft material coated on a surface and/or applied inside some of the unit cells;
- wherein the configuration of the matrix transforms into at least one fully compact self-contact configuration under an applied sideway load to compress the matrix;
- wherein the traces form an electrical network in the fully compact self-contact configuration.
A digital information processing device, comprising:
- a soft material including a soft material substrate and an electrically conductive soft material layer disposed on or in the substrate, the soft material responds to applied stresses by creating an electrical network of the electrically conductive soft material layer, the electrical network having a variable connecting configuration, and
- wherein the connecting configuration of the electrical network is in agreement with a preferred Boolean function or arithmetic expression.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.