ESPOO, Finland, Aug. 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Senseg, a leader in electrostatic haptics, today announced that it has created a new category of flexible electronics by launching a family of roll-to-roll manufactured actuators for use in traditional flat actuator applications as well as for new applications, such as wearables, soft robotics, VR/AR devices, and interior integrated sensors. Called Senseg ELFIAC™ (for Elastomeric Film Actuator), the new product will deliver large-scale manufacturable actuators that are far less expensive to produce than comparable traditional actuators (such as piezos) and use cheaper, non-toxic materials. The inherent flexibility of the low-power ELFIAC technology enables new applications with unprecedented form factors and geometries.
Senseg ELFIAC is completed by the simultaneous introduction of an advanced, ultra-compact, and low-power high-voltage driver circuit for ELFIAC. This circuit is powered by a proprietary system-in-package (SiP) S220 chip, which Senseg has jointly developed with ST Microelectronics. ELFIAC and the S220-based high voltage driver are now available as user-friendly demo kits including software.
The actuator market, currently pegged at $50 billion globally and expanding to $75 billion by 2025, according to MarketsandMarkets, includes consumer, automotive, healthcare, industrial automation, hydraulic, and other vertical market segments. As the ELFIAC technology can be manufactured in almost any size and shape – flat or curved – it can address many of these markets and is most cost-effective in applications larger than mobile devices.
“ELFIAC is a robust technology. Its flexible membrane-like structure enables taking haptics to where it was previously impossible,” said Ville Mäkinen, founder and General Manager of Senseg. “We have proven the mass manufacturability of ELFIAC and gone through rigorous product testing. We can see that ELFIAC’s potential expands far beyond our initial scope of consumer electronics products.”
Senseg is a pioneer in the electrostatic haptic field since 2008, and an innovator in multiple fields of human-machine interfaces, with more than 40 granted patents. Senseg developed the first solid state haptics solution, the TIXEL, for touch screen devices in 2011, enabling users to feel dynamic surface sensations such as moving a hand through grains of sand or dragging a weighty object on the screen of a tablet device.
“With ELFIAC, Senseg is solving the problems of cost and materials usage in actuators, without degrading the experience,” says Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC’s Mobile Devices and AR/VR team. “This is a key component to the next wave of smart compute devices that are expected to perform rigorous functions while still delivering the types of experiences resident on other, more traditional, hardware."
Senseg’s breakthrough with ELFIAC lies in the combination of mastering newly developed roll-to-roll manufacturing technologies for the flexible electronics and in developing a uniquely compact high voltage driver that is intended for low power and low current applications.
“The already extensive actuator market is set to increase and is looking for revolutionary solutions such as the ELFIAC by Senseg,” said Sachin Garg, associate vice president with MarketsandMarkets.
The Senseg ELFIAC technology includes the following features:
- excellent low-frequency performance and high actuation displacement, up to 20% of stack thickness
- lead-free and biocompatible
- can perform pressure sensing
- size from below 1 cm2 to very large, and thickness from 0.1 mm to very thick
- operating voltage starting from couple of hundred volts, with small currents
- flexible, bendable and can be manufactured in any shape, flat or curved
ABOUT SENSEG
Senseg is an innovator in multiple fields of human-machine interfaces and is the leader in next-generation electrostatic haptic technology that delivers tactile sensations to the touchscreen user's fingertips. The company’s new patented ELFIAC technology provides revolutionary benefits and cost advantages in great numbers of actuator applications. Senseg was founded in 2006 and acquired by OFILM in February 2016, and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. For more information, visit the company web site at www.senseg.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like a color photograph of Ville Makinen, founder and General Manager of Senseg, or images of the Senseg ELFIAC technology, please contact Chris Pfaff at chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com or +1-201-218-0262