{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/119543"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/119543","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Electrical design of structurally tunable skin overlays","abstract":"Current on-skin interfaces focus on enabling electronic circuitry and display-like output on top of the skin, but to the best of our knowledge interfaces for tuning the texture or stiffness of the skin itself are unexplored. We present SkinMorph, a second skin layer that alters its texture and color due to attached electronic control circuitry. Modular electrical design of the system includes a bare-bones processor board with three optional, interchangeable, stackable peripheral modules: a programming and debugging module, a Bluetooth module, and an accelerometer module. The modular circuits in tandem with customizable silicone injection molds allow for adaptation to a variety of applications, resulting in a system which affords some physical protection via tuning the skin overlay characteristics on various areas of the body. Particular attention is paid to on-skin challenges such as electrical and heat safety, miniaturization of circuit components, and skin-safe material choices. The entire system including battery, control board and peripherals, and tunable skin overlay can be mounted on the body without a wired tether impeding the user.","abstract_html":"Current on-skin interfaces focus on enabling electronic circuitry and display-like output on top of the skin, but to the best of our knowledge interfaces for tuning the texture or stiffness of the skin itself are unexplored. We present SkinMorph, a second skin layer that alters its texture and color due to attached electronic control circuitry. Modular electrical design of the system includes a bare-bones processor board with three optional, interchangeable, stackable peripheral modules: a programming and debugging module, a Bluetooth module, and an accelerometer module. The modular circuits in tandem with customizable silicone injection molds allow for adaptation to a variety of applications, resulting in a system which affords some physical protection via tuning the skin overlay characteristics on various areas of the body. Particular attention is paid to on-skin challenges such as electrical and heat safety, miniaturization of circuit components, and skin-safe material choices. The entire system including battery, control board and peripherals, and tunable skin overlay can be mounted on the body without a wired tether impeding the user.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bamforth, Miren"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Chris Schmandt."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018","date_published":"2018","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:52Z","subjects":["Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119543","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Chris Schmandt."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bamforth, Miren"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2018-12-11T20:39:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-12-11T20:39:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119543"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2018.","This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.","Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-98)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Current on-skin interfaces focus on enabling electronic circuitry and display-like output on top of the skin, but to the best of our knowledge interfaces for tuning the texture or stiffness of the skin itself are unexplored. We present SkinMorph, a second skin layer that alters its texture and color due to attached electronic control circuitry. Modular electrical design of the system includes a bare-bones processor board with three optional, interchangeable, stackable peripheral modules: a programming and debugging module, a Bluetooth module, and an accelerometer module. The modular circuits in tandem with customizable silicone injection molds allow for adaptation to a variety of applications, resulting in a system which affords some physical protection via tuning the skin overlay characteristics on various areas of the body. Particular attention is paid to on-skin challenges such as electrical and heat safety, miniaturization of circuit components, and skin-safe material choices. The entire system including battery, control board and peripherals, and tunable skin overlay can be mounted on the body without a wired tether impeding the user."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M. Eng."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Electrical design of structurally tunable skin overlays"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Chris Schmandt."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."],"dc:creator":["Bamforth, Miren"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2018-12-11T20:39:29Z"],"dc:date.available":["2018-12-11T20:39:29Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018"],"dc:description":["Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2018.","This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.","Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-98)."],"dc:description.abstract":["Current on-skin interfaces focus on enabling electronic circuitry and display-like output on top of the skin, but to the best of our knowledge interfaces for tuning the texture or stiffness of the skin itself are unexplored. We present SkinMorph, a second skin layer that alters its texture and color due to attached electronic control circuitry. Modular electrical design of the system includes a bare-bones processor board with three optional, interchangeable, stackable peripheral modules: a programming and debugging module, a Bluetooth module, and an accelerometer module. The modular circuits in tandem with customizable silicone injection molds allow for adaptation to a variety of applications, resulting in a system which affords some physical protection via tuning the skin overlay characteristics on various areas of the body. Particular attention is paid to on-skin challenges such as electrical and heat safety, miniaturization of circuit components, and skin-safe material choices. The entire system including battery, control board and peripherals, and tunable skin overlay can be mounted on the body without a wired tether impeding the user."],"dc:description.degree":["M. Eng."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119543"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."],"dc:title":["Electrical design of structurally tunable skin overlays"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:52Z"}