9. Wearables¶

Research¶

Starting this week, I had no idea what to expect and although I'm not sure I will go further with this topic, it was interesting to understand different Outputs and start to consider motion, sound and visual elements within my textiles. This is something I have never considered before. I felt particularly inspired by Thermochromic Ink and Shape Memory Alloys as I was fascinated by their relationship with electrical currents and how this could bring a whole new dimension to my work.

Lecture Notes¶

Understanding Actuators and Outputs.

Making a Driver Circuit¶

A driver circuit is an electronic circuit that controls or regulates the power to another circuit or component e.g. a LED, motor, or display. It acts as an intermediary, converting low-power control signals into high-power signals needed to operate the load, ensuring the load receives the correct voltage and current to function efficiently and safely.

The Process¶

Working from a sample transister, I mapped mine out, including gaps for the diode and resistor whilst labelling the pins. We made a tape bridge to ensure there were no short circuits. Once this was mapped correctly, we soldered our copper tape joins together and added all the elements. This was my first time soldering and I really enjoyed it. It got easier as I practiced as I learnt the importance of patience.

Make sure to test your conductivity and connections with the multimeter to ensure it is all strong.

[soldering]

FINAL TRANSISTOR :

Fabrixiao Microcontroller¶

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that contains a processor, memory, and input/output ports. It is designed to perform specific, dedicated tasks within an embedded system, using code procedded through the software Arduino.
The FabriXiao is an flexible and sewable microcontroller board designed for e-textile and wearable technology projects.

[solder pieces together...]

Notes from Microcontroller Lecture.¶

Learning how microcontrollers and transistors work together.

Making a Flipping Magnet¶

Make a coil of copper wire [wrap around a pen approx. 100 - 150 times]
Tie off with two strands coming out of the coil
Burn these end with a lighter and then sand. This removes the coating and exposes the conductive center.
Test the conductivity with a multimeter

Place the magnet on top of the copper coil
Connect a battery to the two ends.
When the circuit is closed, the magnet will flip/ jump.

Fabrixiao and Arduino¶

Open Arduino Uno and download the esp32 Board
Connect the board to the laptop

D8 > LED > GND
Upload code

int Pin = 8;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  pinMode(pin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  digitalWrite(pin, HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(pin, LOW);
  delay(1000);
}

Making an Embroidered Speaker¶

How does it work?

When an audio signal is sent through the embroidered coil and it is held close to a magnet, it creates a fluctuating magnetic field that pushes and pulls the fabric, causing it to move and produce sound waves.

ARDUINO CODE :

Speaker Beeping [one tone] :

int ledPin = 5;

void setup() {
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  tone(ledPin, 400, 400); // 1 kHz tone
  delay(1000);
}++

This worked.. although it was very quiet. It was a good experiment in understanding how the different characteristics of the coil can change the effectiveness of the speaker. The sewing machine was very quick, but I wanted to create a more refined outcome.

Improving my Embroidered Speaker¶

I learnt that the speaker is louder when the coil is tighter and made from copper wire embroidered using the 'couching' method. This creates larger vibrations and less resistance, making it more powerful. This is my more refined embroidered speaker.

[Unmute]

I was really happy with this outcome as I've seen embroidered speakers before and have always been interested in how they work. It was a very rewarding experiment, although in the future I would've liked to have stronger magnets and to have tried having a song play, instead of a beep.

Experimenting with Thermochromic Ink¶

Inspired by the Wifi Tapestry 1.0 by Richard Vijgen↗

Richard Vijgen's Wifi Tapastry is amazing. Thermochromic Ink is the only element I could see myself working with in the future so it was important for me to experiment with and explore. We started by making a few samples with different colours and additives to see what worked best. The pink and purple were added to water and the black was added to white textile paint.

I was having quite a lot of trouble getting the ink to change colour when in contact with a current. When working with the shape memory alloy, Kim and I discovered that although the alloy wasn't bending like it should've been it was creating a good amount of heat to change the colour. The pink did not work very well however the black did, leading me to work with it more.

BLACK THERMOCHROMIC INK AND WHITE TEXTILE PAINT :

Painting on thicker fabric and an embroidery hoop added tension, making crisper lines and colour changes.

The design I planned vs. what I got. From my experiments, the only conductive material that made a colour change was the shape memory alloy so when sewing my design I anticipated that only the alloy lines would appear... however after sewing it all together with conductive thread, I discovered the conductive thread did work this time (pictured above).

This is the design when the circuit is only connected to one line of the alloy.

Improving My Thermochromic Sample¶

Using the couching embroidery method with conductive and non-conductive thread for smoother lines and a more refined design.

Adding an Input¶

Trying out a touchsensor using Arduino and Fabrixiao. With help from Maddie, I added her touchsensor into my circuit but sadly it isn't work very effectively. As you can see below it did change a few areas but not at all to the same extent as with the full 9V battery.

[code]

This led me to use my direct switch from E-textile week. This worked well and it was nice to encorporate the two weeks together, clearly showing how inputs and outputs work together.

OPEN [off]

CLOSED [on]

Potential Wearable Design Inspiration¶

At the start of the week I was feeling very inspired by the concept of brooches and adding electricity and outputs to make them more dynamic. This is some research and planning I did, inspired by the idea of combining the movement of the shape memory alloy and it's heat, with thermochromic ink to make a brooch that moves and changes colour with electricity.