MorphingCircuit: An Integrated Design and Fabrication Approach for Self-morphing Electronics (accepted, UbiComp 2020)

Third Author, June 2019 - May 2020

Manufacturing electronic products often requires the integration of functions and forms through embedding electronics into three-dimensional (3D) forms. Most popular solutions rely on cavities where electronics live in forms of printed circuit boards (PCB). More flexible approaches leverage 3D printed electronics and flexible circuit laminates to directly integrate electronics with 3D surfaces, which often require expensive facilities and materials. Furthermore, many conventional methods are incompatible with complex geometries (e.g., surfaces that twist or have local minima). In response, we introduce MorphingCircuit, a novel design and fabrication framework that combines functions with forms through 4D printing which effectively reduces cost, production time, and e-waste, while supporting complex geometries. Specifically, our approach first prints flat substrates, which can be easily functionalized with circuit printing and assembling. They are then transformed into desired 3D shapes. Overall, our framework enables the design, fabrication, and simulation of 3D electronics, and can be leveraged by designers, researchers, and practitioners.

Paper link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UV_vmPjphAmK-caEGrFB0LC51rGCF3QJ/view?usp=sharing