Developing smart body protector for sports karate

Abstract

Textile sensors have undergone a long way in research the last decade for their use in wearable technologies. This paper presents the development of pressure sensors based on piezoresistive polymers for application in body protectors, to be used in karate and other martial arts. The objective is to investigate the use of conductive ink as electrode material and study the influence on the sensor performance for each method. It has been found that specific configurations of ink-based electrodes perform well. Plasma treatment has been observed as being fundamental to assure good adhesion of the ink to the polyethylene-based piezoresistive sensor transducer material.