MorphSensor

Abstract

© 2020 ACM. MorphSensor is a 3D electronic design tool that enables designers to morph existing sensor modules of pre-defined two-dimensional shape into free-form electronic component arrangements that better integrate with the three-dimensional shape of a physical prototype. MorphSensor builds onto existing sensor module schematics that already define the electronic components and the wiring required to build the sensor. Since MorphSensor maintains the wire connections throughout the editing process, the sensor remains fully functional even when designers change the electronic component layout on the prototype geometry. We detail the MorphSensor editor that supports designers in re-arranging the electronic components, and discuss a fabrication pipeline based on customized PCB footprints for making the resulting freeform sensor. We then demonstrate the capabilities of our system by morphing a range of sensor modules of different complexity and provide a technical evaluation of the quality of the resulting free-form sensors.