Concept studies and application development of textile integrated dielectric elastomer sensors for smart shoe technologies

Abstract The combination of flexibility and high integrability as well as their precise sensing capability enable dielectric elastomer sensors to be integrated into a variety of applications. Because of these integration opportunities especially in the field of smart textiles these sensor systems can make a difference. Sensor inlays for shoes based on resistive and capacitive sensors enable a partial monitoring of the loads and load distributions on our feet while the interaction with the shoe shaft remains unknown. The novel sensor integration into the shaft combined with a wireless real-time measurement is being studied in this work. This new sensor system within the shoe creates the basis for the data acquisition to finally support diabetic patients who suffer under the diabetic foot syndrome, to support athletes analyzing walking patterns as well as bringing safety shoes to a digital age. This contribution displays sensor concepts as well as the corresponding electronics development. The first smart shoe concentrates on the integration of six shaft sensors distributed over the shoe and their measurement in real-time. The shoe is designed and manufactured in collaboration with the Prüf- und Forschungsinstitut Pirmasens. The evaluation of the sensor signals allows the analysis of different load scenarios.