Printing the IoT

Dr Janos Veres, who leads Parc’s Novel and Printed Electronics programme, looks at turning printing into a manufacturing technique for electronics to meet the needs for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Electronics is entering a new era driven by the rapid rise on the IoT. Wearables, automotive and the vast range of IoT applications cannot be served by traditional electronics-in-a-box solutions and we need to go beyond simple mass production of electronics and begin to address unique, customised devices that are made on-demand. A key enabler for this transition is flexible and conformal electronics. For the last couple of decades, printed and flexible electronics was viewed as a low-cost manufacturing option for mass products such as displays, RFID, sensors and interface panels. Automotive companies began experimenting with in-mould electronics, while printed memory emerged that could be manufactured with existing tools.