5. E-textiles¶
Inspiration¶
Project Primrose: Adobe's digital dress which can change patterns.¶
I have always thought this dress is amazing. I would LOVE to be able to create something like it, or at least something that can change in some visual way as this dress does.
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Finnish textile artist Maija Lavonen¶
I was lucky enough to see Fiber-optic-based art pieces created by Finnish textile artist Maija Lavonen, at the “Quietly Monumental” exhibition, Architecture and Design Museum in Helsinki, Finland, in spring 2025. She was a professor at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki and was named Textile Artist of the Year in 1996.
I know these are not e-textiles, but I think that playing with fiber optics can inspire making garments for the body. I would like to try to do some weaving with fiber optics somehow for fashion effects as Maija does. While this inspiration does not exactly fit this assignment, I think the effects she gets can really inspire fashion looks.
Maija has created pieces for interior spaces including Finland’s Parliament House and the Ministry of the Interior in Helsinki. Textile on Three Surfaces is displayed in the waiting room of the Speaker’s Office in the Parliament House, and Nature as the Source is in the second-floor lobby of the Ministry of the Interior, where it often serves as a backdrop for media interviews.
She developed a technique to combine handwoven wide ribbons into large textile artworks, often featuring light. In Corridor of Light, she wove linen yarn and acrylic rods on a fiber-optic loom and projected light onto the piece to create different shapes. She deliberately broke the fibers so that when the light projected on them, they reflected the shape she desired.
Iris van Herpen¶
Dutch fashion designer, known for blending traditional craftsmanship with an innovative use of technology in her haute couture. Her seemingly incongruent inspirations include nature, the human body, and the intersection of art, science, and fashion. Techniques to achieve her incredibel results include 3D printing, laser cutting, and ultrasonic welding.
Definitions¶
Making soft circuits:
Definition of a soft circuit, e-textile, or electronic textile
A flexible electronic circuit that integrates components including sensors and LEDS, made using conductive thread, fabric, or ink instead of rigid wires and printed circuit boards. Applications include integrating electronics into apparel to create smart, interactive textiles used for aesthetic purposes or practical functions like health monitoring, teaching students about electronice in an accessible way, and facilitating forms of artistic expression by adding light and electronics to fabrics.
From Patricia Vizkaya's Website:
Here are some of the basics concepts:
Voltage (V) (Unit: Volts): the measure of electric potential energy per unit charge. It represents the force that pushes electric charges through a circuit.
Current (I) (Unit: Amperes): the flow of electric charge through a conductor, like a wire. It represents how many charges are moving through the circuit per second.
Resistence (R) (Unit: Ohms Ω): a measure of how much a material opposes the flow of electric current. It determines how much current will flow for a given voltage.
An Input: refers to the data, signals, or information that is fed into a system or device for processing. It can come from various sources, such as sensors, user commands, or other systems.
An Output: the data, signals, or information that is produced by a system or device after processing the input.
Series Circuit: The components are connected in a single path, meaning the same current flows through each component, but the voltage is divided among them. If one component fails, the entire circuit stops working.
Parallel Circuit: The components are connected in multiple paths, so each component gets the same voltage, but the current is split across the branches. If one component fails, the rest continue to work.
HARD & SOFT CONNECTIONS¶
Hard/Hard: Both the sensor and the conductive connections are made from rigid or stiff materials. For example, using copper tape or metal wires on a firm surface like plastic or cardboard.
Hard/Soft: This involves combining rigid and flexible materials. For example, using conductive thread sewn into fabric along with rigid electronic components like a circuit board.
Soft/Soft: Both the sensor and the conductive connections are made entirely of flexible materials. For instance, using conductive fabric for both the sensor and the connections.
End of Patricia's definitions
Images below are from the article "Parallel vs Series Circuits: Differences, Theory, and Practical Applications" linked here
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Soft Circuits: Simple Digital LED Circuits¶
Below are a variety of basic electronic circuits using an LED light, 3V battery, conductive thread, and condictive fabric to make connections.
1) Square of a grey felted wool sweater; a Lily pad and 3 volt coin battery; a snap sewn on and connetce dot the Lilypad with conductive thread; alligator clips; and a blue Light Emitting Diode.
2) The same components from above, with the addition of another alligator clip and a push button switch created using felted wool and cashmere sweater pieces with conductive fabric.
3) Felted sweater heart with a heart LED from Digikey, and a conductive push-button switch made with conductive fabric and conductive thread. I think this heart is kind of ugly and plan to redo it when I have some more time to do so. I was VERY excited to make a button on/off switch. I had been wanting to make one for a long time so was glad to have the chance to figure out how to do so.
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Below is a circuit using paper, copper tape, a battery held to the two sides of the copper tape by a large clip, and Light Emitting Diode, using velostst to create an analog circuit. My drawings below are:
1. A basic circuit
2. The circuit that I made to test the velostat
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Indeed, the LED does get a bit brighter when I press harder on the velostat which is sandwiched between copper tape.
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Below are two videos of the analog effect from using the conductive pressure sensor sheet with copper tape, and a battery.
Coding with Arduino IDE¶
Here is a video showing the Arduino and Breadboard connected and programmed through Arduino IDE for the lights to flash 1 minute on and 1 minute off.
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Circuit Applications¶
I did not make the stuffed light-up dinosaur and cape durig my Fabricademy course. I made them a few years ago. While I came into Fabricademy being comfortable making a simple circuit with LEDs, conductive thread, and a coin Lilipad battery holder, I had never coded electronics nor engaged in the more complicated processes covered in Fabricademy.
The stuffed dino, made from polyester velvet for the body and cotton velveteen for the bottom, is stitched with two rows of conductive thread in the bobbin spaced the length of an LED sequin.The rows act as channels to attach the LED sequins as well as the LED heart, a special LED purchased from Digikey. Both are sewn with conductive thread to a negatve and positive channel. The interior wires I ran through the inside attach to a Lilypad on/off switch at the bottom.
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Light-up cape
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What is a multimeter? A tool used to measure voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit, as well as the continuity of a circuit. With the circuit below, I was able to press my conductive fabric button and heard a ring, meaning that I had continuity, or a complete, unbroken electrical path with very low resistance between the two test probes. This function is used to check if a wire is broken, a fuse is good, or two points in a circuit are electrically connected.
Building a Pressure Sensor with Analog Input¶
Digital Soft Sensor versus Analog Soft Sensor: An analog signal is a continuously variable electronic signal that can take any value within a given range, changing smoothly over time. Unlike digital signals that are limited to discrete steps (like (0)s and (1)s), analog signals can represent an infinite number of values, such as the fluctuating voltage of a sound wave or a sensor's output. A dimmer switch is a continuously variable system, as it can be set to a countless number of positions between off and full brightness.
Velostat: also known as Linqstat. A brand name for a pressure-sensitive, electrically conductive material made of a polymeric film (specifically, a carbon-impregnated polyethylene or polyolefin). Its primary characteristic is that its electrical resistance changes when subjected to pressure or flexing.
It's main uses, according to Google:
1) Pressure and Force Sensors: Its main application, especially among hobbyists and researchers, is creating inexpensive, custom-sized flexible pressure or force sensors for use with microcontrollers.
2) Wearable Technology: It is used in prototypes for wearable devices like pressure-sensitive gloves or shoes.
3) Robotics: Velostat is used in robotic applications for tactile perception, such as measuring grip or contact forces in robotic hands or fingertips.
4) Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection: Industrially, it was originally developed and is still used as a packaging material to protect sensitive electronic devices from damage caused by electrostatic discharge.
Analog read of Arduino:
Document the sensor project as well as the readings got using the AnalogRead of Arduino¶
Here is a video getting Analog read of Arduino:
## AnalogReadSerial
Reads an analog input on pin 0, prints the result to the Serial Monitor.
Graphical representation is available using Serial Plotter (Tools > Serial Plotter menu).
Attach the center pin of a potentiometer to pin A0, and the outside pins to +5V and ground.
This example code is in the public domain.
https://docs.arduino.cc/built-in-examples/basics/AnalogReadSerial/
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
// initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second:
Serial.begin(9600);
}
// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
// read the input on analog pin 0:
int sensorValue = analogRead(A0);
// print out the value you read:
Serial.println(sensorValue);
delay(30); // delay in between reads for stability
}
DigitalReadSerial¶
Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the Serial Monitor
This example code is in the public domain.
https://docs.arduino.cc/built-in-examples/basics/DigitalReadSerial/
// digital pin 2 has a pushbutton attached to it. Give it a name:
int digitalInput = 2;
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
// initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second:
Serial.begin(9600);
// make the pushbutton's pin an input:
pinMode(digitalInput, INPUT);
}
// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
// read the input pin:
int pinState = digitalRead(digitalInput);
}
A future goal is to code with Arduino IDE to make an LED star scape where the light gets brighter and dimmer.
I would like to use the Velostat to make a "night sky" with lights that light and dim, using my Digikey star LEDs. This project will be a development of my light-up cape pictured above that I made a few years ago as I was learning the basics about circuits.