The World`s Most Sensitive and Flexible Tactile Sensing technology
SZTS Technology Co., Ltd., a leading provider of flexible pressure sensor modules and solutions in China, recently announced that it has completed a 100 million yuan RMBA+ round of financing. This round of funds will be mainly used for technology research and development, product upgrades and solution development.
SZTS focuses on providing related flexible pressure sensor modules and solutions for medical and health, industrial automation and consumer electronics. According to reports, SZTS has cooperated with dozens of companies to jointly develop related applications based on flexible pressure sensor modules.
SZTS' sensor technology has multiple solutions in the fields of industry, medical, consumer electronics, etc. Wang Xiaoyang, CEO of SZTS, classifies the company`s main solutions as "five golden flowers". They are: independent sensor modules, industrial pressure detection instruments developed on the basis of them, headsets that can be press-controlled, and touch sensors. Sensor-controlled helmets and smart shoes that detect foot pulse signals and muscle movements in real time.
Flexible Iontronic Sensing
A capacitive sensing architecture that is flexible and give rapid response detection
Flexible Iontronic Sensing (FITS) Technology
Utilizes proprietary ionic materials to establish an ionic-electronic interface in response to mechanical stimuli. Provides real-time high-quality noise-immune pressure/force signals in a mechanically flexible, optically transparent, and ultrathin package.
Ultra-sensitive
Noise-resistant
Fast Response
Ultra-flexible
Wide Range
Transparency
Various Materials
Moisture-proof
…
Specifically, in the industrial field, SZTS can realize 100% localized substitution of independent intellectual property rights. Products can open digital interfaces for integration, support machine self-adjustment, and can be applied to intelligent manufacturing upgrades in various scenarios.
In terms of industrial pressure testing instruments, the SZTS solution can be applied to product packaging in factories such as batteries and semiconductors. For example, in a battery factory, the pressure detector can monitor the pressure data during the cell packaging operation in real time to prevent leakage and explosion caused by excessive pressure on the battery skin. At the same time, it can also provide relevant data, combined with pressure distribution measurement software, using 2D/3D methods, real-time display of pressure distribution cloud diagram, and data statistical analysis. In the past, pressure-sensitive paper was used more in traditional industrial pressure testing in China, and the annual import amount was close to tens of billions, and it could only be tested offline and could not provide real-time data.
In the field of medical and general health wear, SZTS has developed a smart wearable module based on the arterial pulse of the head, wrist, and foot, called PS02 module for short. The PS02 module can perform pulse measurement and analysis, realizing all-weather monitoring of heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure trends. It can also analyze the user's cardiovascular system, nervous system status and mental anxiety. The PS02 module can be mounted on wearable devices such as helmets, glasses, and bracelets. Solution providers in the wearable industry can also use this sensor module to design their own products. For example, headscarf manufacturers can design headscarves that can absorb sweat smartly. In the future, through self-research and optimization of chips, the price of PS02 modules can be reduced to the order of more than ten RMB.
SZTS has also independently developed smart shoes that can monitor foot pulse signals and muscle movements in real time. This shoe can output the user's pulse wave data during exercise, and analyze the user's heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure trends. It can be used in scenes such as gait analysis of patients with neurological diseases, sports medicine rehabilitation, and athlete training status feedback. Pan Tingrui said that the medical and health sector is a key market for SZTS. SZTS's medical products are all certified by the US FDA and have safety guarantees.
In the field of consumer electronics, SZTS was the first to release a button detection system with a sensitivity comparable to AirPods earphones at the beginning of the year, which can implement operations such as single click, multi-tap, long press, and gesture sliding. The price of touch module is almost 1/10 of AirPods. Based on the flexible features of the product, the delivery cycle can be reduced by 50%-80% compared to traditional solutions, and batch shipments can be made within 7 days. Relying on the product's flexibility, SZTS can realize the upgrade of the touch solution without changing the internal space structure of the original product.
At present, based on the existing technological achievements, SZTS is developing a special sensor conditioning chip. Unlike ordinary capacitive sensors, the signals emitted by SZTS's flexible sensors are physical signals formed by ionizing effects. A special conditioning circuit is needed to perform digital-to-analog conversion of physical signals. SZTS developed this conditioning chip, hoping to use an optimized circuit to match the developed high-precision sensors and materials. This chip will also be miniaturized, and the entire chip module will reach the millimeter level, allowing customers to flexibly use the chip in various scenarios. After the self-developed conditioning chip is put into use, the future cost of the entire sensor module will be significantly lower than similar products in the market.
The core technology of SZTS is the world's first fourth-generation tactile sensing technology-Flexible Electron Tactile Sensing Technology (FITS), created by one of the founders, Professor Pan Tingrui of the University of California, Davis. According to reports, different from capacitive, piezoelectric, and resistive flexible pressure sensors, the principle of this technology is to use unique ionic materials to establish an ion-electronic interface in response to mechanical excitation. In general, this technology has two advantages. One is It can provide real-time, high-quality, low-noise tactile signals, and secondly, it has the characteristics of full flexibility, optical transparency and ultra-thin packaging.
These characteristics make SZTS products more unique in medical, industrial, consumer electronics and other fields. First of all, the high-quality low-noise signal allows the titanium deep sensor to occupy a unique market position in the medical field, so that the problems of small biomedical engineering signals, low frequency, and high noise can be solved, and the sensitivity can be increased by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude. Second, the effective functional layer of SZTS sensing technology only needs a single nanometer thickness, which can not only save a lot of manufacturing material costs, but also can flexibly cover the surface of any material. In addition, the sensor can achieve a fully transparent structure, while providing tactile sensing functions for the object, it does not affect the shape of the surface of the object. It can be easier to collaborate with vision sensor fusion.
Recently, SZTS received financing from a Chinese technology giant. CEO Wang Xiaoyang said that they have taken a fancy to the synergy that SZTS can produce. The underlying technology provided by SZTS can connect the market and combine with different technologies to produce new technological iterations. Flexible ionization sensor technology can develop UWB (Ultra Wideband Technology, used in indoor positioning system), transparent screen and other technologies for Xiaomi.
Pan Tingrui gave an outlook on the future development of SZTS. He pointed out the five major directions that flexible ionization sensing technology can achieve in the future, namely, visual transparency, interconnection of everything, active sensing, solid-state sensing, and biological perception. Among them, visual transparency, interconnection of all things and solid-state sensing are already in place, and SZTS is making the next step of planning in the two directions of active sensing and biological sensing.
Pan Tingrui pointed out that since many objects and materials have movable ions on their natural surfaces, everything has ionization sensing, and the prospect of realizing tactile intelligence and interconnection is very attractive. SZTS's thin and transparent sensing technology can enable tactile digitalization of any item. In addition, humans and other living organisms transmit signals through ionization, and it is easy to form an ionization sensing interface. The future where the human body is digitized through touch may not be far away, and the way of human-computer interaction can be profoundly changed due to the revolution in touch sensing technology.
"The human visual nerve has a million-level sensor unit, and the touch has a nearly 100,000-level sensor unit. Nowadays, the research and application based on visual intelligence account for the majority of the market. The development of tactile intelligence lags far behind the former. There has not been a tens of billions or even billions of companies on the road, far from reaching the stage of full industrialization, so the development prospects are very worth looking forward to." Pan Tingrui said. Facing the huge potential of the tactile market in the future, Titan Technology, which has the world's latest tactile underlying technology, has always been determined to exceed the limit of human tactile technology ("Beyond Our Sense of Touch"), and develop global tactile smart technology and market. Leader. Currently, SZTS is expanding its team and is recruiting R&D and marketing talents.