NC State wearable hazard-detection patch

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a wearable patch that detects environmental hazards such as dangerous gases and heavy metals in water, alerting wearers through distinct haptic vibration patterns. The patch, smaller than a driver's license, integrates a microcontroller, battery, sensors for six hazards, a haptic actuator, and thin-film photovoltaic cells for solar power harvesting, enabling up to 24 hours of operation. The team also created an 'e-skin' version for robots, layering the sensor patch over piezoelectric material to generate electrical signals that allow quadrupedal robots to detect and avoid hazards. The research, published in the journal Device, was supported by the United States — National Eye Institute and involved contributions from Erim Uzunoğlu, Oluwatobi Ojuade, Amay Bandodkar, and Lilian Hsiao.