Velostat is a conductive material that is sensitive to pressure; its resistance decreases as more force is applied to it. You can make a sensor with it by sandwiching the material between two wires or metal surfaces. Take care that the outer metal contacts are completely separated by the Velostat, otherwise the sensor won't work.
Velostat is a conductive material that is sensitive to pressure; its resistance decreases as more force is applied to it. You can make a sensor with it by sandwiching the material between two wires or metal surfaces. Take care that the outer metal contacts are completely separated by the Velostat, otherwise the sensor won't work.
Velostat is a piezoresistive material, meaning it’s electrical resistance decreases when pressured. When sandwiched between two conductive layers, it has a wonderful range for making pressure and bend sensors. It can also be used for resistive sensing over distance, position sensing.
Velostat is a back, opaque, volume-conductive, carbon-impregnated polyolefin. The electrical characteristics are not affected by age or humidity (but they do change when melted under the iron).
Velostat is the brand name for this material manufactured by 3M. Linqstat is the same thing, just manufactured by another company, Caplinq. This is also the material from which the black anti-static storage bags for sensitive electrical components are made. Although not all anti-static electronics bags have the same piezoresistive properties as Velostat! From experience we have found that silver and transparent bags are not pressure sensitive, and unfortunately not all black bags are either. But your chances are high, if the bag is black.
Anti-Static Plastic Bag Links
>> http://www.packagingknowledge.com/Anti_Static_Bags.asp
>> http://www.esdjournal.com/techpapr/ryne/esdbags.htm
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge
Suppliers of velostat and Linqstat
>> http://www.lessemf.com/plastic.html (New Jersey, USA)
>> http://www.blockemf.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=762&products_id=5247
>> http://www3.3m.com
>> http://www.caplinq.com/blog/linqstat-volume-conductive-film-for-emf-shielding_37/ (Canada)
The above is from Kobakant where many excellent soft circuits and textile electronics projects are documented.
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