Smart fabrics and wearables are a developing market, as the ability to easily monitor conditions for everything ranging from people to any sort of equipment is a huge benefit. For BeBop Sensors, smart fabric applications can be said to be music to their years.
 
Keith McMillen, the company’s founder and CEO, started BeBop Sensors in 2014, indicating the idea for BeBop Sensors came out of McMillen’s music company, Keith McMillen Instruments, which focuses on creating and manufacturing electronic music instruments, including the QuNexus and QuNeo keyboards.
 
“All musical instruments are essentially sensors with forms of acoustic processing attached.  BeBop is a natural step for KMI, where we have diligently tuned fabrics, geometries, and production processes allowing us to ship over two million sensors to some of the most demanding musicians in the world,” said McMillen. 
 
“I wanted to make everything smaller, and we saw the opportunity to apply fabric sensors for percussion, controllers and keyboards,” McMillen added. “We started working with fabric companies, and the results were good.”
 
McMillen started showing his new products, and engineers and entrepreneurs brought new applications to him. That led to the formation of BeBop Sensors.
 
“People started showing interest in exoskeletons for robotics and sports, so I started BeBop to serve these new markets,” McMillen said. “We went live at the end of last year, and are manufacturing in the U.S. and China. As a result of our experience, we are getting yields of nearly 100% for our flexible sensors, and our end use costs are quite reasonable. “
 
BeBop’s Monolithic Fabric Sensor Technology integrates the sensors, traces and electronics into the fabric, using printing on substrates, including nonwovens. BeBop Sensors can determine physical factors such as force, location, size, weight, shape, motion and presence, and while musical instruments may have been the first application, McMillen sees plenty of potential markets.
 
“We see good opportunities in automotive, sports, health and industrial markets,” he noted. “There is quite an amazing need for flexible, accurate sensors. We solve problems that other companies didn’t even know existed.
 
“All the projects we do are custom,” he added. “We understand applications. We have million of sensors in the field, from insoles and skull caps to tires. We have made 15 different sensors for companies in 30 weeks. It is a lot of fun, and our customers appreciate our ability to come up with solutions. We expect to have numerous products on the market in the next year.”
 
McMillen said that wearables and automotives are complex markets, and BeBop is working with developers in these fields.
 
“Wearables are an interesting market, covering the extremities from feet to hands and the head,” he said. “They require stretching, bending and structural changes due to motion, and we embed the circuitry right into the fabric.
 
“Automotive and the military are markets where the manufacturer knows how to take on new technology,” he added. “Automakers recognize their needs and can find ways to use new technology, like, for example, smart steering wheels for self-driving cars.”
 
For the automotive market, BeBop Sensors has developed technology for a Smart Tire, which can sense the road surface, adjust suspension and anti-lock brakes, as well as report on tread depth. Sensors on car steering wheels can detect driver alertness.
 
For wearables, BeBop Sensors has developed 1mm thin Shoe Insoles for shoes that measure gait and pressure. “If you want to know the number of steps you have taken, your wrist isn’t necessarily the place to put the sensor,” McMillen noted. “Insole sensors can better tell you your results. Another opportunity is shoe sizers for shoe stores.”
 
Wearable controllers for sleeves of jackets or shirts to connect to smartphones are another area of promise, as is protective gear such as bicycle helmets. “Another possibility is helmets for athletes that allow the headgear to talk to their phones in emergencies,” he said.
 
One key to BeBop Sensors’ growth is its ability to print its circuitry.
 
“The first smart fabric products had circuit boards placed into the fabric,” McMillen said. “I realized I could print multiple layers of circuits onto the fabric. We work with DuPont on the conductive inks. We have printed up to seven layers for our more demanding customers, and these are washable and flexible. These fabrics can use wireless connections or USB, and we don’t have hundreds of wires sticking out of the fabric.”
 
BeBop Sensors use a wide range of materials, with nonwovens being an ideal substrate.
 
“We use a lot of nonwovens, such as felts or nylon, which are great to work with,” he noted. “Nonwovens are so uniform, and there is no fraying, and they can be laser cut. They are the material of choice.”
 
BeBop Sensors has already earned recognition during its short time in the market, receiving the 2015 Frost & Sullivan North American Technology Innovation Award for its fabric sensor technology
 
“OEMs find it challenging to develop or procure smart fabric sensors that are multi-functional, reliable and low-priced,” Sumit Kumar Pal, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said. “Luckily for them, BeBop Sensor’s innovative smart fabric sensor technology meets these requirements.”
 
McMillen sees excellent opportunities ahead for BeBop Sensors.
 
“Our outlook is good,” he concluded. “I think we have solved the major problems. I don’t see anyone doing what we are doing. We have a good head start, and we just brought in six new engineers, bringing our staff to 30. Once our products start shipping, we will have proof points. I am very excited about deploying these sensors.”