Flexible electronics and their integration into plastic materials, also known as plastronics, offer endless possibilities for developing innovative products that respond to demands from sectors as diverse as energy, packaging, and automotive.
One of these applications is the integration of pressure-sensitive sensors in toys, for whose development, AIJU, the Institute of Children's Products and Leisure, and AIMPLAS, the Technological Institute of Plastics, have developed the FLEXENS project during 2017.
Thanks to this project, a pressure-sensitive device has been developed specifically for use in the toy industry. This required the design and development of flexible pressure sensors, their integration via in-mold labeling (IML) and composite materials (in the case of large-surface sensors), as well as the integration and improvement of a previously developed communication protocol that enhances the interactivity of traditional toys
This project, which is now entering its second year, aims to obtain several prototype toys as a demonstration of the technology that will serve as a basis for the SMEs involved for the future exploitation of the results.
The FLEXENS project is supported by the Conselleria d'Economia Sostenible, Sectors Productius, Comerç i Treball de la Generalitat Valenciana through IVACE, and is co-financed by the EU ERDF funds, within the ERDF Operational Programme of the Valencian Community 2014-2020.

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