Wearable human-machine interface based on the self-healing strain sensors array for control interface of unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract Flexible strain sensors have been widely adopted for wearable systems in detecting the human activities and health. However, the demonstration of controlling interface based on strain sensor is still limited. Herein, a novel wearable human-machine interface (W-HMI) is proposed based on the signal processing system and self-healing strain sensors array. The strain sensor shows high sensitivity with the Gauge Factor max of 20, wide-detection range of 0.2–3000 % and self-healing ability. The proposed flexible and transparent W-HMI is capable of effectively capturing eyes' motions through four-array strain sensors. Based on the coupling effect of different sensors, W-HMI collects and processes the signals of the four sensors under different movements of the eyes, and then outputs different signals to control the right, left, up and down movements of the UAV. Importantly, the destroyed sensor can still show excellent performance due to its self-healing ability and can be used as a W-HMI to control the movement of UAV, which is an important characteristic to compensate for the vulnerability of W-HMI under continuous tension or extrusion. This innovative, cost-effective, simple-designed W-HMI based on the self-healing strain sensors will open a novel way to its application in the human-machine field.