5. E-textiles

ASSIGNMENT WEEK5

1. Build at least one digital and one analogue soft sensors, using different materials and techniques.
2. Document the sensor project as well as the readings got using the AnalogRead of Arduino
3. Integrate the two soft sensors into one or two textile swatches using hard soft connections
4. Document your swatches
5. Upload a small video of the swatches functioning
6. EXTRA POINT Integrate the swatch into a project

Inspiration

Hello World in Arduino

Preparing the needed material. I then set up the arduino with a lily pad board and the USB port.

The material	Set up the arduino

I run the blinking code that turns on the led, then that turns on the LED on for one second, then off for one second, repeatedly. I then added a conductive material into the circuit

/*

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(5, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(5, LOW); // turn the LED off (HIGH is the voltage level)
   delay(1000);
}

Blinking code on breadboard	blinking code with conductive textile

I tested this with the fabric, with copper and with conductive thread. I then tested how manipulating the material would change the power of the led, but it didnt affect it. So I decided to use the fabric as a controler and test the range of it's resistance depending on how to fold it

Conductive Material	Test with conductive textile

Analogue input

I designed the following circuit, that would read the value of the resistance that comes from the material and calibrate it so that it can map to a frequency that would control the blinking of a LED.

Circuit	Test on breadboard with conductive material

The code in arduino is :

/*
  Analog Input
*/

int sensorPin = A2;    // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int ledPin = 5;      // select the pin for the LED
int sensorValue = 0;  // variable to store the value coming from the sensor
float sensorValueCalib = 0;
void setup() {
  // declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT:
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
    // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second:
  Serial.begin(9600);
}


// H_out = Highest possible output
// L_out = Lowest possible output
// H_in = Highest possible input
// L_in = Lowest possible input
// calib = final calibration
// input = the scaling start-off (probably te analog input)
float mapCalibrate(float H_out, float L_out, float H_in, float L_in, float Calib, float Input){

  return  L_out +  ((Input - L_in) /(H_in - L_in)) * (H_out - L_out) + Calib;
}

void loop() {
  // read the value from the sensor:
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
  sensorValueCalib = mapCalibrate(1, 0, 13, 9, 0, sensorValue) * 1000;


  Serial.println(sensorValue);
 Serial.println(sensorValueCalib);
   // turn the ledPin on
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  // stop the program for <sensorValue> milliseconds:
  delay(sensorValueCalib);
  // turn the ledPin off:
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
  // stop the program for for <sensorValue> milliseconds:
  delay(sensorValueCalib);
// print out the value you read:

}

I tested it on the Breadboard.Then integrated it into fabric with the lilypad using conductive thread. I curled and connected the resitors and the LED. I tested it, and it works !!! It blinks with the frequency that depends on how I manipulate the fabric

test with conductive textile on lilypad	integrating the resistors

Digital input

In order to design a button, first I tried the following code with an actual button on the Breadboard.

The circuit is very simple. I tested the circuit on the Breadboard using an industrial button :

Circuit	Test on breadboard

I then designed a fabric based button - so a digital sensor- that when pressed would close the circuit:

Inside the sensor:	When you push the two sides one against the other:

I run the following code on both, it worked, it made the LED go on when both buttons are pressed.

/*
  Button

// constants won't change. They're used here to set pin numbers:
const int buttonPin = 11;     // the number of the pushbutton pin
const int ledPin =  13;      // the number of the LED pin

// variables will change:
int buttonState = 0;         // variable for reading the pushbutton status

void setup() {
  // initialize the LED pin as an output:
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  // initialize the pushbutton pin as an input:
  pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);

  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  // read the state of the pushbutton value:
  buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

  // check if the pushbutton is pressed. If it is, the buttonState is HIGH:
  if (buttonState == HIGH) {
    // turn LED on:
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  } else {
    // turn LED off:
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
  }

  Serial.println(buttonPin);
  delay(1000);
}

I integrated that into fabric with a circuit with conductive thread

The sensor in the fabric	The circuit in the fabric

The result works, when I press the LED goes on:

Controling the LED with the sensor	More images

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Last update: 2021-12-17