5. E-textiles¶
Research¶
Liza Stark's presentation I thought best to start here, with some really wonderful metaphores to begin to understand just exactly how electonics, and their technical jargon operate. These were foundational as to how I was able to conceptualize just how I might move forward.
In our second week together I was similarly inspired by Emma Shannon's acrylic heart. Using the body or a body as a metaphore to relate to complex systems tends to be a nice starting point for me.
References & Inspiration¶
One of my greatest inspirtions was from Liza starks presentation. This projects what the artists calls a "data ecosystem" and leverages IOT in order to create haptic feedback in a garment offering the wearer a sense of what is around them depending on how it is coded.
At the beginning of our week we took a trip to a factory built in the 1800's in rural Spain. Powered by the adjascent river this facility took the productuion process from sheeps wool, spun to wool and fabioned into many garments namely the Basque Beret.
The space was enchanting however I was most taken with the massive Jaquard looms and the associate punch card system which allowed these machines to be programmed. This was an unexpected example of textiles and computation and made me feel closer to the original women who coded and created with textiles.
Continuity Tester¶
We started with a simple switch
The above sketch of switch uses coiled prongs of the LED stitiched in a loop towards and upper flap and a ground stitched beneath a battery. In this, the simplest example we connect to the positive and negative sides of the battery with the flap each trace of electronic thread heading to the positive, or long side of the LED and negative or shorter prong of the LED. When the flap is engaged - the light becomes illuminated.
This heart diagram illustrates the flow of direction of both blood and current. The volume of blood in the body would connect to a persons theoretical voltage.
In this more complex switch I played with different forms of buffers or bridges that would allow me to jump traces. On the front you'll see a person stitched to the bottom which has a trace embedded between two pieces allowing it to hop the line. I've also used channels of neoprene on the back in order to avoid short circuits caused by threads touching.
KEY LEARNINGS: Electronic thread is tricky to work with - often getting tangled in a presentation shared by _____ we leared that using a loop of reguglar thread to carry the electronic thread through the small hole was helpful and being mindful of tangling while sewing was critical. Loose threads, and knots can create short circuits and unexpected glitches.
Digital Pressure Sensor¶
Using conductive fabric, felt for resistance and a very touchable circle of fabric I created a digital touch sensor. The loft of the fabric keeps the two sides of the circuit apart and possible short circuits are prevented using felt covering.
Analog Pressure Sensor¶
Using Velostat which is a semi conductive plastic as a variable resistor when pressure is applied. I taped two pieces of conductive thread on either side, with tails facing either side and surfaces adhered end to end as per the example provided in our lecture.
The initial form was fairly successful and so I tried another form, simply cutting the velostat to see what the difference would be.
The outcome of exactly the same strip cut into a slightly different form was mixed which calls into question the integrity of the conductive threads.
In order to push this a little further I creaded the Kobakant Pressure Sensor. Using again velostat within the interor and coils of thread sewn through neoprene on either side I was able to create a level of resistance that varies with touch.
Intended to work in conjunction with the heart switch, this prototype was intended to create a physical metaphore for resistance, which is not as prevalent in the heart switch model.
Arduino¶
The Arduino Uno is a basic prototyping tool for DIY programming.
At it's most fundamental you will find the
- USB Plug to connect to your computer
- Digital Pins: 1-13. Digital Pins read on, or off - 0 or 1. Those numbers with an ~ beside them can also support an analog signal
- Analog Pins: Analog Pins A0-A5 can read variable data.
Arduino Kit Essentials¶
There are some key items you can use to test your code or things you should gather if you'd like to work at home.
Breadboard Explained¶
See above for a great description on how a breadboard works by ToymakerTelevision
Blink Demo¶
Copy and paste the code below in order to test your lights for Blink
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
// initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output.
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}
// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
delay(1000); // wait for a second
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
delay(1000); // wait for a second
}
Initial trials with Ardiuno were unsuccessful as a result of using a Ardiuni Clone, the Elegoo UNO R3. When combined with a Mac environment, this clone requires a specific driver which I was unable to find online.
Testing an Analog Sensor¶
int press= analogRead(A0);
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin (9600);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
long a = press = analogRead(A0);
Serial.print("a");
Serial.print(a);
Serial.println(" ");
delay (100);
}
Tools¶
- [Max 8]
footnote fabrication files
Code Example (pending)¶
int press= analogRead(A0);
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin (9600);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
long a = press = analogRead(A0);
Serial.print("a");
Serial.print(a);
Serial.println(" ");
delay (100);
}
Tools¶
- Arduino