Creating an object can connect to Wi-Fi without electricity

Scientists have developed plastic that has built-in capabilities without electricity or electronic components. The new invention promises to be the foundation of future smart home appliances.

If the explanation is still too vague and doesn't impress you, try to think about the following examples: this technology can be used to create smart laundry detergent bottles that can detect the amount of powder. Wash the remaining in the bottle and send the information to the smartphone, or the twist buttons and the wireless slider to scroll the web pages.All of them are 3D printed and do not use batteries.

How can this extraordinary thing be done? To create the device, the University of Washington team built a system that included a plastic switch, spring, gear and antenna. When we activate the machine by pressing the button or other movements, it can absorb or reflect the Wi-Fi signals that pass through to operate.

To realize their desires, the team of scientists used a number of things like 3D springs, gears and switches; all have the ability to 'translate' into a signal transmitted through an antenna. The printing material here is composite plastic mixed with some conductive materials like copper and graphene. For example, in one experiment, they printed a tool to help measure the wind speed, then attached it to the gear.

One of the researchers - electrical engineer Vikram Iyer, said: "Our goal is to create a device so simple that you can print 3D right at home and it can send useful information to you. But the biggest challenge is how to get the device connected to Wi-Fi using only plastic materials? This is something no one has ever done before. '

The core of this plastic system is a conductor, made of plastic and copper and can also be 3D printed. They are capable of interconnecting and disconnecting Wi-Fi antennas intermittently, as well as changing the Wi-Fi signal when it passes through the device.

Wi-Fi-connected devices do not need electricity.(Photo: Mark Stone).

For example, a 3D printed plastic anemometer can measure the wind speed, as when it spins faster, the wires connect more continuously, leading to transitions that are also transmitted more frequently. The water flow meter will also work in the same way.

Scientists can build similar mechanisms into switches, dials and sliders - the movements of these devices will create a transition and send simple signals over Wi-Fi. They can be smartphones or other devices.

The presence of gears on the tool can be connected to the wire, and the application of binary here makes the digital connection process quick. These types of techniques are called reflections or wave reflections - in this case, Wi-Fi signals .

Bottle of washing powder can connect to Wi-Fi.

The team can also adjust the conductor to combine with iron instead of copper. This allows them to encode information into a 3D printed device - almost like an invisible bar code is considered an identifier or instruction.

Justin Chan, one of the research team, said: "The device looks like a normal 3D printed object, but there's an invisible information inside and you can read it using it. smartphone'.

We can do this because every smartphone has an attached magnetometer - this device helps them identify places in the world based on the Earth's magnetic field. And similar sensors made from iron and plastic can detect binary systems like smartphones.

Currently, these 3D printing devices are still rudimentary and not ready to be released to the public, but in the future they can be applied to many different purposes. In our home there are many devices that are 'scrambling to' each other to connect to Wi-Fi as well as power, and this new invention will provide a simple approach for those devices to be easy. Easily connect with each other and connect to the web.

'Research is part of our long-term plan for creating multiple devices from the IoT platform. Since then, information can be transferred seamlessly anywhere and anytime, " the scientists said. The team presented its work at the SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition in Asia past.