E-textiles ⚙️👗

Session Recap 🌰🐚

Time really does fly when you’re having fun—especially with E-textiles! Last week’s BioChromes was a whirlwind of creativity. My colleague Gunjan and I crafted 75 beautiful swatches, and we couldn’t wait to share them during the global review. 🎉

Now, let’s talk about my deep dive into E-textiles! I was excited but also super nervous because I had absolutely zero experience in this area. But hey, new challenges, new adventures! 🚀✨ Liza Stark’s session was packed with information, and here are the golden nuggets I took away:

1. What circuits are all about 🔄

2. Magical conductive materials 🪄

3. How inputs and outputs work 🎚️

4. The difference between digital and analog sensors 🧠

5. And of course… the amazing world of Arduino! 💻✨

Assignment Deep Dive 📝

Learning Outcomes

Research skills the participant has acquired knowledge through references or replicating existing projects

Design skills the participant understands how to produce soft circuits and sensors

Fabrication skills Learn how to embed electronics on fabrics, study soft-hard connections

Process skills Anyone can go through the workflow, understand it and reproduce it

Final outcome The assignment is assembled and either complete or tested

Students Checklist ✅

✅ Build at least one digital and one analogue soft sensor, using different materials and techniques.

✅ Document the sensor project as well as the readings got using the AnalogRead of Arduino

✅ Integrate the two soft sensors into one or two textile swatches using hard soft connections

✅ Document the circuit and its schematic

✅ Document your swatches / samples

✅ Upload your arduino code as text

✅ Upload a small video of the swatches functioning

✅ Integrate the swatch into a project (extra credit)

FAQ

Can I make a regular electronic circuit with regular (hard) wires, breadboards, etc?

A soft circuit needs to be made, be sure that your circuit can be easily attached / sewed into a fabric piece/garment and it is “comfortable” to wear / easy to use.

Project Inspiration 💡

I got completely lost in the world of E-textiles while browsing through projects. There’s SO much you can do!

One piece that really caught my eye was the stunning solar necklace by kthartic a brand by Kathleen McDermott - Solar Wearables—it’s breathtaking! ☀️💫

After getting all starry-eyed over these beautiful creations, I had to give myself a reality check. 😅 Since this was my first attempt, I decided to focus on learning the technical stuff first. Who knows—maybe I’ll create something even more magical in my final project!

Understanding the Process 🧠

Liza gave us a helpful Vocabulary List to understand the world of E-textiles better.

Still, the whole thing felt a bit overwhelming at first. I’m a bit of a panic queen 👑 when I’m feeling lost, so here’s how I got a grip on things:

1. I identified the project’s needs and why I was doing this.

2. Watched lots of Arduino tutorials 🎥

3. Played around with paper circuits to build confidence ✂️🗂️ With those steps in place, I felt ready to dive in head-first! 🏊‍♀️

The list of things I used

1. Arduino Uno
2. Bread Board ( Which I kept referring to as breadcrumbs no idea why)
3. Series of wires for connections
4. LED lights
5. LDRs
6. Resistors
7. Copper Tape
8. Multimeter
9. Conductive Thread

The Process 🎨✨

Paper Prototypes To kick things off, I explored several YouTube tutorials to get the basics of circuits down. Here’s what I followed:

Tutorial 1 : Paper Circuit - Physics Experiment

Tutorial 2 : Cupcake Paper Circuit Card with LED Light

Tutorial 3 : Using Copper Tape with Paper Circuits

A quick test to understand the workings

I had a blast experimenting with paper circuits and felt much more confident afterward. Let’s move on!

Arduino Adventures Now that I was feeling like a mini-engineer, I downloaded the Arduino software, picked up my kit from the lab, and dove into the wonderful world of code (cue dramatic music) 🎶:

Tutorial 1 : Arduino Tutorial for Beginners 01 - Introduction

Tutorial 2 : Arduino Tutorial: LED Sequential Control- Beginner Project

Tutorial 3 : LED Control with LDR (Photoresistor) and Arduino

Three Blinking LEDs ✨

For my first test, I worked with three LEDs to understand how they blink using Arduino code. Here’s the step-by-step breakdown:

Wiring the LEDs

I connected the three LEDs in series on the breadboard.

Adding Resistors Each LED was connected to a resistor to ensure the current didn’t blow the LEDs.

Connecting to Arduino I used jumper wires (I used the male to male ones) to connect the breadboard to the Arduino board.

Image ref from Google

Programming I wrote a simple Arduino sketch as per the tutorial to make the LEDs blink in sequence.

Once I uploaded the code, the blinking sequence began. It was magical to see the lights respond just as I had programmed! 💡✨

Code Used For 3 blinking Lights

/* A simple program to sequentially turn on and turn off 3 LEDs */ 

int LED1 = 13;
int LED2 = 12;
int LED3 = 11;

void setup() {
   pinMode(LED1, OUTPUT);
   pinMode(LED2, OUTPUT);
   pinMode(LED3, OUTPUT);
}


void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);    // turn on LED1 
  delay(200);                  // wait for 200ms
  digitalWrite(LED2, HIGH);    // turn on LED2
  delay(200);                  // wait for 200ms       
  digitalWrite(LED3, HIGH);    // turn on LED3 
  delay(200);                  // wait for 200ms
  digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);     // turn off LED1
  delay(300);                  // wait for 300ms
  digitalWrite(LED2, LOW);     // turn off LED2
  delay(300);                  // wait for 300ms
  digitalWrite(LED3, LOW);     // turn off LED3
  delay(300);                  // wait for 300ms before running program all over again
}

I used Tinkercad (Click here to see) to test my code and get the diagram

Light-sensitive LDR 🌞

Next, I experimented with a photosensor (LDR) to explore how it responds to changes in light. This was a super fun experiment! Here’s what I did:

Setting up the LDR I connected the LDR to the breadboard, along with a resistor to prevent short circuits.

Connecting to Arduino I wired the LDR to the analog input pin on the Arduino and the LED to the digital output pin.

Programming I wrote a simple code that used the analog reading from the LDR to control the brightness of the LED.

This was such an exciting experiment because I could actually see how changes in light affected the brightness of the LED in real-time! 🌟

I first just tried doing this with the LDR to see if it works and then played around with the LED.

Code Used Light-sensitive Photosensor

// Set pin numbers
const int ledPin = 13;   // The number of the LED pin
const int ldrPin = A0;   // The number of the LDR pin

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);       // Initialize the serial communication
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // Initialize the LED pin as an output
  pinMode(ldrPin, INPUT);   // Initialize the LDR pin as an input
}

void loop() {
  int ldrStatus = analogRead(ldrPin);  // Read the status of the LDR value

  // Print LDR status for debugging
  Serial.print("LDR Status: ");
  Serial.println(ldrStatus);

  // Experiment by increasing the threshold and observing the behavior
  if (ldrStatus <= 650) {  // Adjust threshold dynamically based on observed values
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  // Turn LED on when it's dark
    Serial.println("LDR is DARK, LED is ON");
  } else {
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   // Turn LED off when it's bright
    Serial.println("LDR is BRIGHT, LED is OFF");
  }

  delay(200);  // Short delay to stabilize the readings
}

I used Tinkercad (Click here to see) to test my code and get the diagram

Project Assembly 🛠️

Working with Digital & Analog Sensors

Since this was my first time, I wanted to keep things manageable but still create something aesthetic. I decided to do a decorative zodiac embroidery on felt, while incorporating both digital and analog sensors.

Step 1: Creating the Design I started by designing the artwork in Adobe Illustrator, carefully planning where I wanted the lights (LEDs) to go. This helped me visualize the final output while considering the placement of the circuits.

Step 2: Tracing on Felt Once happy with my design, I printed it out and used carbon paper to trace the design onto felt. The carbon paper made it easy to transfer even the tiniest details onto my fabric.

Step 3: Embroidery Process

I thought long and hard about how to approach the embroidery while also hiding the circuit. I wanted the design to look super clean on the front, so adding the circuit on the front wouldn't work. After some consideration, I decided to embroider the zodiac design with silver thread and keep the circuit at the back.

After completing the embroidery, I carefully made holes with my needle and inserted the LEDs in place. 🎯

Then came the trickiest part—working with conductive thread to create the circuit design on the back of the felt. Using my knowledge from the paper circuits, I stitched the threads into place and created a simple digital sensor. The paper clip acted as a switch to turn the LEDs on and off. 🧵✨

The moment of truth! I was SO happy to see it work perfectly. The LEDs lit up just the way I imagined! 🌟

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Step 4: Adding the Analog Sensor

Once the digital sensor was in place, I decided to add an analog sensor too. For this, I used a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) to create a light-sensitive sensor that would control the LED in the center of the design.

With this, I successfully combined both digital and analog sensors into one single, beautiful design!

Making Wearables

In addition to the zodiac embroidery, I really wanted to make something wearable! 👗 My mind immediately went back to my circular fashion project, where I worked on interlocking flower patterns. Using this, I quickly crafted a prototype bracelet.

Adding the Sensor

With my limited sensor knowledge, I added a light-sensitive LED to the middle of the flower pattern, bringing my bracelet to life! 🌸💡

E-Textile Prototype

For the finishing touch, I connected the sensor to the breadboard and used wires to extend the LED, creating an easy-to-showcase wearable prototype.

Reflections 🪞

1. Neater circuits! One of my key takeaways is that I need to work on making my circuits cleaner and less messy. The back of my embroidery project looked a bit chaotic! 😅

2. Stress less, create more: I was SO nervous at the start of this project, but once I began experimenting and playing around with ideas, I realized how much I enjoyed it. Overcoming the initial anxiety was key! 🌿✨

3. Learn, experiment, repeat: This experience has sparked a deep curiosity for more complex designs and sensors. I’m already planning what I can explore next—there’s so much potential! 🚀

4. Step-by-step wins the race: Breaking the project into smaller steps really helped me stay focused and not get overwhelmed.

5. Celebrating those little wins made the whole process a lot more enjoyable! 🎉

Overall, my E-textile journey was a mix of nerves, excitement, and a whole lot of learning—and I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. Can’t wait to take on the next challenge! 🎉💪