Pencil on Cement for Intelligent Human-Building Interaction

This is the first study reporting a comprehensive investigation of the development and evaluation of a touch and proximity sensor utilizing a pencil on non-conductive construction and building materials. For Example, Cement, Cement Fiber Board, Stone, and Brick with a focus on smart Human-Building Interaction (HBI) and Human-Machine Interaction (HMI). Previous research has explored the use of a pencil on flexible paper, but this research focuses on deploying a pencil on hard, non-conductive substrates. Thus, this sensor fabrication employs a novel approach of utilizing simple graphite abrasion to achieve a linear resistance of approximately 22 ohms per cm on hard and non-conductive substrates, and more specifically, in the field of HMI by resulting in a significant enhancement in sensitivity and response time. The sensor's highest response time on a cement substrate was found to be 200 μs, with potential applications in the creation of keypads for triggering multiple devices in the home and electronic appliances. Also, the average sensitivity during proximity sensing of the sensor is approximately 0.04 pF/cm. Overall, this methodology constitutes cost-effectiveness and eco-friendly nature of fabrication and deployment demonstrated strong potential for revolutionizing the power industry market.