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5. E-textiles

References & Inspiration

I was very enthusiastic to begin this week on E-textiles, because I had never worked with this kind of fabric before, and it’s one of the main reasons I chose the Fabricademy. What I’ve always wanted to explore in connected textiles is light, giving it both texture and softness. Inspired by the sunrise, I want to bring that same warmth through material, and explore the effect of progression and light variation.

Reference

  1. “Luminous Cloud Cushion”, Wesco
  2. “Sunset Lamp”
  3. “Tracés, le tapis chauffant”, Natacha Poutoux et Sacha Hourcarde
  4. Sun rise

E-Starting

First, I’d like to share some websites that helped me during this week :

After this, Stéphanie gave us a short workshop to help us understand electronics (in French), and she also showed us a selection of conductive materials. We did some electronic tests, and later during the Wednesday class, I created my first circuit and my first analog sensor.

Process and workflow

First step with connectors and analogue

I decided to start by creating connectors using conductive tape and snap buttons. I carefully checked that they were conductive with a multimeter, and each snap button at the ends was sewn with conductive thread. Then, I created a circuit inspired by a breadboard, representing three stages of sunrise colors: orange, yellow, and blue. Each light is independent and can be turned on or off via its snap connector.

The satin textile has a front and back: on one side, the circuit and LEDs are visible, and on the other, the connectors appear and disappear, creating volume and evoking the variation and progression of light.

ConnectorCircuit Analogue

I recreated a sensor to add to my circuit, using foam to give it some malleability, and it can be connected with safety pins. Later, I wanted to experiment with conductive thread mixed with synthetic fibers, assembled using crochet techniques. I added an elastic to amplify the contraction, but I found it wasn’t strong enough, so I made another version using only conductive thread and elastic, testing everything with a multimeter.

First

Sensor Digital

Next, I created a digital sensor, inspired by Annabel’s brilliant idea, while reinterpreting it with new materials. I find the ON/OFF movement very intuitive and discreet. Building on that, I wanted to give my lights more freedom, so I extended the LED legs with conductive thread. I then placed them inside stuffed organic shapes to diffuse the light. Together, this creates a circuit that is much lighter than if it had been mounted directly on the textile.

Digital

I also tried the zipper sensor, but it didn’t work. I think the conductive parts weren’t touching enough…

Zipper

Code Example

For the Arduino part, I worked with a FabriXiao board. We had a few difficulties finding the right job board setup, but I shared the links to the websites that helped us above in the article.

I first tried the Blink effect, but I wanted to play with different light intensities, like a gradual progression controlled by my sensor. Stéphanie helped me understand and code it, and the result was perfect.

*/
int capteurvaleur; 
int luminosite; 

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output.
  pinMode(A1, INPUT);
  pinMode(D8, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  capteurvaleur = analogRead(A1);
  Serial.println(capteurvaleur);
  luminosite = map(capteurvaleur, 0, 170, 0, 255);
  analogWrite(D8,luminosite);


  delay(100);                      // wait for a second
}

CodeArdiuno