5. E-textiles

Research

While Nuria was giving the lesson, and watching the lecture, I started thinking of some pages I follow that work with wearable technology. The first one that came to my mind about wearable technology was ANUVAD Innovation Studio. I followed it on Instagram, and I liked the way she creates sensitive e-textiles. You can feel them and create a reaction, a movement and even hear noises. Another inspiration is Anouk’s work. It’s amazing how she made those cool designs because they look alive, and each one has its own personality.

You can follow their work on their web sites.

ANUVAD Innovation Studio Anouk Whipprecht

As well I look through some of last Fabricademy students. I was amazed by the wonderful ideas and works made and at the same time made me feel nervous because I have never worked with electronics.

weekly assignment

References & Inspiration

E-textiles, or electronic textiles, are a new world for me, it represents an innovative intersection of textile design and technology. You can integrate electronic components into fabrics to provide functionalities such as sensing, communication and hearing. Once you start researching you find applications ranging from healthcare monitoring to smart clothing. E-textiles. They are reshaping the way we interact with our clothing and environment.

Instructables

What is E-Textiles

E-textiles are textiles that have been enhanced with electronic elements and functionalities. These can include conductive threads, sensors, and even energy sources like solar cells. The goal is to create fabrics that not only serve traditional purposes but also offer additional benefits, such as health monitoring, temperature regulation, and connectivity to other devices.

Aplications

1. Fitness and sport: Athletes are leveraging e-textiles for performance optimization. Sportswear can monitor body metrics in real-time, helping athletes refine their training regimens and prevent injuries. For example, shirts with integrated sensors can measure muscle strain and hydration levels during physical activities.
2. Fashion: Designers are increasingly incorporating e-textiles into fashion, creating garments that can change color or pattern in response to environmental cues. This innovation allows for personalized fashion experiences.
3. Healthcare: E-textiles are transforming healthcare by enabling continuous health monitoring. Smart garments equipped with sensors can track vital signs like heart rate, respiration, and temperature, providing valuable data to healthcare professionals and patients. This technology enhances preventive care and can lead to timely interventions.
4. Smart Home Integration: E-textiles are finding their way into smart homes. Curtains, upholstery, and even carpets can be embedded with sensors that respond to light, temperature, or occupancy, improving energy efficiency and user comfort.

UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC THEORY

After having heard the lecture by Nuria, I was impressed with her ability to explain all the theory and the concepts so clearly that even though I was not familiar with electronics, I could understand, and she left me intrigue and wanted to experiment more. But to accomplish that, I had to understand the basics. Thanks to my local instructor, Luis Hernández at the Fab Lab Querétaro, I could dig into the knowledge of electronics. He has been a great teacher and has dedicated a lot of time and patience to explain to me. Here are some of the basics concepts: - Voltage (V) (Unit: Volts). Is the measure of electric potential energy per unit charge. It represents the force that pushes electric charges through a circuit. - Current (I) (Unit: Amperes). Is 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). It is 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: is 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.

Digital Sensor: provides a binary output: it only has two states, typically on (1) or off (0). It detects whether a certain condition is done or not, like a button press or a motion sensor.

Analog Sensor: gives a range of values rather than just two. It detects continuous data, like temperature, light levels, among others. The output is typically a variable voltage that represents different levels, which is read by the Arduino as a number within a range (ex: 0-1023).

During the lesson they recommended us KOBAKANT, in this channel features a wealth of documentation, tutorials, and project showcases, all shared as open-source resources. There is an intensive list of materials used to achieve the e-textiles. Not all of them you can find in Mexico and not all of them can be shipped. You must ask and evaluate the costs

Conductive Fabrics:

•   Velostat

•   Eeontex

    Copper Conductive Fabric

•   Pure Copper Polyester Taffeta

•   VeilShield

•   SaniSilver

•   Ripstop Silver Fabric

•   Silver Strecth Conductive Fabric

•   Safety Silk

•   Soft and Safe Shielding Fabric

•   ESD Foam

Conductive Thread & Yarns:

•   Elitex

•   Karl Grimm

•   Bekinox

•   Adafruit Stainless Steel

•   Silverspun Yarn

Conductive Inks & Tapes:

•   CuProCote by Less EMF
•   Bare Conductuve
•   Circuit Scribe
•   Copper Tape
•   Copper Foil Sheet
•   Conductive Fabric Tape

Circuit Testing

I’ve never worked with electronics before, so everything was new to me, a lot of information to absorbed, that was a little bit overwhelming, but at the same time amazed at all the things that you can make with electronics in Fashion design and all the new opportunities.

Basic LED Circuit:

I connected a 3V battery to an LED, with the positive connected to the battery's positive terminal and the negative leg connected to the battery's negative terminal.

1. Foil Circuit: The foil acted as a conductor between the power source and the LED. The power I used was a 3V battery and the copper tape as the conductor.

1. Pressure Sensor with Velostat: I modified the previous foil circuit by placing a piece of Velostat (a pressure-sensitive material) between the layers of foil with copper tape. This created a pressure-sensitive circuit where the LED lights up or dims based on the amount of pressure applied to the Velostat.

I wanted to try this circuit also using the Arduino UNO, and because I don’t know how to do it, I asked ChatGTP to help me write the code. I wanted to control the intensity and brightness of the LED, using Velostat.

1. Button Circuit: In this circuit, I replaced the continuous conductive path with pressed buttons. I used the board and the Arduino UNO to try it up. This button acted as switch, when pressed or touched, lighting up the LED.

I learn the basics of coding in Arduino. I found it quite difficult, especially the sequence of steps to get to your results. As you saw in the photos and videos. I had to learn how to weld to avoid any problems with the circuits, the cables. I liked it, it was fun!

Project

1st Project Digital Parallel Circuit (Snap Switch)

To achieve the objective the circuit must be a parallel circuit that passes through all the components in the following order:

Battery + (Positive) • Internal wiring (inside the body) • LED(s) • Conductive thread • Snap fastener A (in one hand) • Snap fastener B (on the other hand) • Conductive thread • Internal wiring (inside the body) Battery − (Negative)

1st Parallel Digital Circuit (Puppet)

This small poppet didn´t work because the wires connected to the LEDs and to one of the snappers were not connected properly to the snap switches, they were connected both (negative and positive) to the battery. and therefore, they had only lit up when you touched the battery, The Button circuit I was trying to make did not work, so I had to try it again and make the correct circuit.

2nd Attempt

This time I did the correct parallel circuit, connecting the negative legs of the LEDs to the battery (negative side) and to one of the snap switches and the positive side of the LEDs to the other snap switch. This has the same effect as the button circuit, whenever you clap or join the hands together the LEDs placed on the eyes of the puppet light up and vice versa.

Video before I closed the puppet checkin that it worked correctly

Video of the final puppet

It worked perfectly, but I forgot to leave an open source to extract the battery when necessary, so what I did was to open a space on top of the heart and add some Velcro to close and open it, whenever its needed. Another suggestion made to me was to make an internal stuffed puppet and leave all the connections free, something that I never thought about. Because I had tried the circuit with a button on the Arduino UNO, I forgot to try it on my puppet.

2nd Project Analog Parallel Circuit

I wanted to make a kind of Sachiko embroidery and install 6 LEDs in a parallel circuit using the velostat to change the light density when I pressed the velostat in a certain sequence and see if I could achieve it by the help of ChatGTP.

Process:

First textile • Trace the Sashiko embroidery on the textile. • Embroidered it with a white tread using a wooden frame. • Sew the positive side of the LEDs with conductive thread separately. The first line of LEDs will be connected to the PWM ~3, ~5, ~6 of the Arduino UNO The second line of LEDs will be connected to the PWM ~9, ~10, ~11 of the Arduino UNO • Arrange all the positive conductive thread of each LED to one side of the textile. • Sew the negative side of the LEDs all together and finish at the end of the textile without getting near the positive threads. This conductive thread will be connected to the GND of the Arduino UNO • A square of velostat to put between the sashiko and the other textile. • Beneath the Sashiko you need to add a copper tape at the center between the LEDs to connect to the battery 5V of the Arduino UNO

Second textile • Sew three separate lines with conductive thread 1.- to connect to de A0 (analog)of the Arduino UNO 2.- to connect to the A1 (analog) of the Arduino UNO 3.- to connect to the GND of the Arduino UNO Before I did it with the textiles, I tried it on the board placing the LEDs and all the cables as I would be do it with the textile.

Arduino (Test 1)

It failed! It didn´t work because all the LEDs were on all the time and when I pressed the Velostat nothing happened, the LEDs stayed on. I used a resistance of 220 ohms

Arduino (Test 2)

After having failed, we decided to change the instructions and try to divide the tension on the LEDs because of the velostat resistance, map the intensity of the LEDs and use a loop for the LEDs to light up sequentially with an intensity range between 80% and 20%. I changed the resistance to 10K. This attempt also failed. Three LEDs stayed on with intensity and the other three blinked.

Arduino (test 3)

On this test we decided to change the resistance to 1K and make a fade effect, with a controlled activation/ intensity through the A0 and A1 entrances. The LEDs must react when they detect pressure from the velostat. This time the code worked better, I did have the fading effect and the intensity changed whenever I pressed the velostat. As this test worked, not exactly as I wanted but it did work, I decided to use it on my Sashiko.

I had my textiles ready; I placed the cooper tape below the Sachiko for it to have contact with the velostat and connected all the conductive threads to the cables and to the Arduino UNO.

I found out that there was a problem with my connection because I only got to light 4 LEDs and two of them light quite bright. I tried again using Caiman cables, but it didn’t work either. Sadly, it didn’t work as I wished and wanted! I must do it again with more calm and hopefully have time to upload it before the course ends.