Conductive & resistive
fabrics and yarns
DIY soft switches + sensors
Hard- Soft connections
Components
Programming
Fabricademy | textile & technology academy
Liza Stark
WEEK 5
E-TEXTILES
RESOURCES
GETTING STARTED
Computational Craft. In-depth resources for all topics we cover.
What are electronic textiles?
IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE…
INTRODUCTION
IT ALSO LOOKS
LIKE…
INTRODUCTION
Stymphalian Birds by Audrey Briot
The Knitted Radio by Irene Posch + Ebru Kurbak
A Fabric that Remembers by Laura Devendorf
Magnetic Reverberations by Elizabeth Meiklejohn
Still, Missing You (Sikinos) by Layla Klinger
HARD TECH,
SOFT WORLD
INTRODUCTION
Different iterations of the WearComp wearable computer by Steve Mann (1981-mid 1990s)
The Musical Jacket by Maggie Orth and Rehmi Post (1998)
HOW TO
GET WHAT YOU WANT
INTRODUCTION
https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/
By Mika Satomi + Hannah Perner-Wilson
APPROACH
INTRODUCTION
We will progress from:
We will center materials throughout.
Credit to Olivia Prior, Kate Hartman and Social Body Lab for this diagram
Electronics
Fabrication
Coding/ Interaction
Materials
This is a fast introduction to electronic textiles.
This deck is a long term resource.
Make a note of what excites you for your assignment.
What is a circuit?
WHAT
CIRCUIT
A circuit is a path for electrical energy to flow. This electrical energy is called current.
All circuits must have a power source and output or load.
LOAD / OUTPUT
LED
PATH
Alligator clips
POWER
SOURCE
3 volt
battery
HOW
CIRCUIT
Current moves from power (+) to ground (-) along our electrical path.
Our work in designing circuits is guiding the current where to go through our conductive paths and components.
+
-
BIG 3
ELECTRICITY 101
We need to understand the basic relationship among these three in order to build circuits.
VOLTAGE
CURRENT
RESISTANCE
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
Each circuit has a power source with a different voltage. Components and boards need different voltages to operate safely.
1.5 Volts
3 Volts
9 Volts
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
Difference in potential electrical energy measured between two points in a circuit.
KEY FACTS
Images from Sparkfun
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
Measure with a multimeter
Quick Guide:
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
All voltage must be used. If it is not, it will dissipate as heat and could burn components.
– +
GROUND
FACT:
LEDs need between 2-3.2 volts to operate. This is called forward voltage.
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
All voltage must be used. If it is not, it will dissipate as heat and could burn components. But why??
– +
9V Increase
GROUND
~2.2V Decrease
~6.8V Left over
This is too much left over. It will burn the components.
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
Amount of electricity that passes through one point in a circuit.
Current is the water.
KEY FACTS
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
Components are also rated for current. Let’s use this info to return to another question…
250mA with no load
500mA with load
20mA for max brightness
Each pin outputs ~20mA
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
Every electrical component or material has a data sheet. This details all of electrical and physical properties. Check the website you bought it on
WAIT.
How do you know that?
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
We know there is too much voltage. But how does this relate to current?
– +
GROUND
~2.2V Decrease
~6.8V Left over
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
Voltage pushes current through the circuit. The more voltage, the more current: they are directly related.
– +
GROUND
~2.2V Decrease
~6.8V Left over
Too much of current going back to ground
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
Voltage pushes current through the circuit. The more voltage, the more current: they are directly related.
– +
GROUND
~2.2V Decrease
~6.8V Left over
– +
GROUND
~8.8V Decrease
~0.2V Left over
Ok amount of current going back to ground
Too much of current going back to ground
CURRENT
ELECTRICITY 101
But how can we solve this without 3 more LEDs? Let’s talk about the final piece…
– +
GROUND
~2.2V Decrease
~6.8V Left over
Too much of current going back to ground
RESISTANCE
ELECTRICITY 101
Determines how much electricity (i.e. current) flows through a circuit.
KEY FACTS
LESS resistance
MORE current flows
MORE resistance
LESS current flows
RESISTANCE
ELECTRICITY 101
A resistor limits the amount of electricity that can flow through a certain point. They come in different values (ring color) and wattages (size).
Note: You will generally need a ¼ or ½ watt.
Measure with a multimeter
OHM’S LAW
ELECTRICITY 101
Mathematically defines the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
V = I * R
V = Voltage in volts
I = Current in amps
R = Resistance in ohms
See Sparkfun’s Tutorial if you want to learn more.
THINK
ELECTRICITY 101
Silently choose your answer:
What will happen to the LED if I put this piece of conductive fabric over the LED legs?
THINK
ELECTRICITY 101
What will happen to the LED if I put this piece of conductive fabric over the LED legs?
It caused a short circuit. Instead of going through the LED, electricity traveled straight across the copper fabric.
DEBRIEF
ELECTRICITY 101
If we want to use more than one component, there are two ways we can configure them: series and parallel.
Parallel
with similar forward voltages
Parallel
with different forward voltages
Series
VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
Forward voltage is the amount of voltage a component uses in a circuit.
Notice how different colors have different values. Red LEDs need 1.95 volts while blue needs 3.2 volts.
LED Color Graph by Jie Qi from the 2013 e-Textile Swatchbook Exchange
FORWARD VOLTAGE
ELECTRICITY 101
Different color LEDs have different forward voltages. If you combine LEDs, but sure to test that they will work together!
LED
COMPONENTS
There are two ways you can connect multiple components:
For LEDs, we will only use parallel >>>>>>>
| Parallel 2 Different Electrical Paths | Series Same Electrical Path |
Voltage | Same across all | Must be greater than or equal to sum of forward voltages |
Current | Splits among them based on forward voltage | Same across all |
Questions?
What materials and tools can I use?
FABRICS
MATERIALS
Properties to consider:
From Kobakant
THREADS + YARNS
MATERIALS
Properties to consider:
From Kobakant >>
Elitex
Karl Grimm
Bekinox
Adafruit Stainless Steel
Silverspun Yarn
ECOTHREADS
SWATCHES
“We present EcoThreads, a sustainable e-textile prototyping approach for fabricating biodegradable functional threads involving two thread-based fabrication methods, wet spinning and thread coating, to fabricate functional threads from biomaterials or modify natural fiber to achieve conductive or interactive functionality.”
EcoThreads Workshop Documentation (Images from the Hybrid Body Lab at Cornell University)
Samples from a workshop in Sept 2024
INKS +
TAPES
MATERIALS
CuPro-Cote by LessEMF
Bare Conductive
Circuit Scribe
Copper Tape
Copper Foil Sheet
Conductive Fabric Tape
HAND
TOOLS
MACHINES
TOOLS
ELECTRONICS
TOOLS
What are my options for creating traces?
TRACES
CREATING CIRCUITS
Traces are the physical paths of conductive material that electricity moves along in a circuit. We want these to be highly conductive (i.e. very low resistance)
How to Work with Conductive Fabric by Lara Grant
FABRIC
TRACES
*Fused with Heat’n’bond. See appendix
A
B
C
D
E
F
FABRIC
TRACES
Second Skin by Rachel Freire
Connextyle by Jessica Marsch
THREAD
TRACES
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
THREAD
TRACES
Threaded Frequencies by Anuvad Innovation Studio
The Embroidered Computer by Irene Posch and Ebru Kurbak
What inputs can I make?
INPUT
OVERVIEW
Information or data that enters a system, like a button press.
DIGITAL
Switches
On/off
0110111101101110
ANALOG
Sensors
Range of values
1023, 521, 34
Switches
SWITCHES
DIGITAL
A switch is a break in a circuit.
Since the circuit is not complete, no electricity can flow to the components.
MOMENTARY
SWITCHES
Momentary switches (aka push buttons) stay open as long as you hold them by pressing conductive materials into contact.
Non-conductive fabric
Conductive
Foam with holes
Conductive
Non-conductive fabric
TOGGLE
SWITCHES
Press, zip, slide, etc two pieces of conductive material together. These stay open in one position and closed in the other.
STROKE
SWITCHES
Close the circuit by pressing conductive materials into contact.
TILT
SWITCHES
A conductive bead or pompom makes contact with conductive fabric patches based on its position.
Sensors
SENSORS
ANALOG
We can use resistance to get a broader range of values. By allowing more current to get through, you can change the brightness of an LED, the frequency of a sound, or the speed of a motor.
By varying resistance of your input, you can change the output. That is why they are also called variable resistors.
RESISTANCE
ELECTRICITY 101
Determines how much charge flows through a circuit.
KEY FACTS
The lower the resistance, more current flows.
The higher the resistance, less current flows.
GOAL
SENSORS
Design a textile interface that allows us to manipulate resistance by building different structures and layouts.
What factors that impact resistance?
LESS
MORE
FACTORS
RESISTANCE
DISTANCE
Resistance increases over distance no matter what the material
CONTACT
Some materials are pressure sensitive will decrease in resistance when pressure is applied to them.
SURFACE AREA
Increasing the size of the area for electricity to flow will decrease the resistance.
We can change resistance in three ways.
FACTORS
RESISTANCE
DISTANCE
Resistance increases over distance no matter what the material
CONTACT
Some materials are pressure sensitive will decrease in resistance when pressure is applied to them.
SURFACE AREA
Increasing the size of the area for electricity to flow will decrease the resistance.
We can change resistance in three ways.
FACTORS
RESISTANCE
DISTANCE
Resistance increases over distance no matter what the material
CONTACT
Some materials are pressure sensitive will decrease in resistance when pressure is applied to them.
SURFACE AREA
Increasing the size of the area for electricity to flow will decrease the resistance.
We can change resistance in three ways.
FACTORS
RESISTANCE
DISTANCE
Resistance increases over distance no matter what the material
CONTACT
Some materials are pressure sensitive will decrease in resistance when pressure is applied to them.
SURFACE AREA
Increasing the size of the area for electricity to flow will decrease the resistance.
We can change resistance in three ways.
MATERIALS
SENSORS
CONDUCTIVE YARN
Silver or stainless steel spun with other fibers, good for stretch sensors
Resistance decreases as you press or stretch.
VELOSTAT
Carbon impregnated film, cheap, resilient, non-stretch
EEONTEX
Nonwoven, VERY high resistance
MATERIALS
SENSORS
Polysense uses a process called in-situ polymerization, effectively dying a fabric to become piezoelectric. Any porous material can be dyed/coated.
Documentation here: https://counterchemists.github.io/
Images from PolySense
Stymphalian Birds by Audrey Briot
CCC Leggings by Kobakant and CounterChemists
THINK
CIRCUITS IN ACTION
What will happen to the LED when I connect this knit conductive yarn to the battery?
THINK
CIRCUITS IN ACTION
What will happen to the LED when I connect this knit conductive yarn to the battery?
The more you press, the more electricity gets through the yarn i.e. the resistance of the yarn decreases.
Construction
PRESSURE
SENSORS
When pressed, the resistance decreases allowing more electricity to flow through the circuit. Use this to track pressure/weight on an interface or object.
Pressure sensors by Kobakant
PRESSURE
DESIGN
These are great for small to medium size projects.
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
VELOSTAT
DOTTED LINE
REGULAR FABRIC
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
VELOSTAT
DOTTED LINE
REGULAR FABRIC
CONDUCTIVE THREAD
PRESSURE
DESIGN
These matrices are great for small or large scale.
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
VELOSTAT
DOTTED LINE
REGULAR FABRIC
Leave space so the two don’t touch
CONDUCTIVE THREAD
VELOSTAT
If you want more control, you can create a true matrix and attach each thread of one side to different pins
PRESSURE
DESIGN
A pompom and small woven patches are great for small scale and fun to touch!
CONDUCTIVE ROVING
YOU CAN ALSO USE CONDUCTIVE YARN TO MAKE A POMPOM
CONDUCTIVE THREAD OR YARN TO CONNECT
CONDUCTIVE YARN
BEND
SENSORS
Resistance decreases as bent and more contact is made. Very similar to a pressure sensor, but better for measuring joint movement.
BEND
DESIGN
Works for small and large scale. Great for wearables.
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
VELOSTAT
DOTTED LINE
REGULAR FABRIC
CONDUCTIVE THREAD
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
VELOSTAT
DOTTED LINE
REGULAR FABRIC
BEND
DESIGN
Works best for smaller scale on joints in wearable projects.
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC
EEONTEX
REGULAR FABRIC
STRETCH
SENSORS
The more a resistive material is stretched, the more its resistance will decrease because it has more surface area to cover.
POTENTIOMETER
SENSORS
Adjust resistance by connecting conductive and resistive material through a wiper at different points in the circuit. The farther away, the more resistance.
Knit circular potentiometer
Fabric linear potentiometer
Analog tilt sensor
RESOURCES
CONSTRUCTION
Check out these zines for a more in-depth explanation of how construct switches and a knit stretch sensors.
Design Considerations
OVERVIEW
CONSIDERATIONS
To design your own sensors, ask yourself these questions to determine interaction, form, construction, and material application:
CONTEXT
CONSIDERATIONS
What is the context of my project?
DAILY USE
PERFORMANCE
WEARABLE
NON-WEARABLE
SENSITIVITY
CONSIDERATIONS
How sensitive does my sensor need to be?
LOW
HIGH
Hard press or bend to activate
Light press or bend to activate
Pressure
Matrix
LOW
HIGH
Pressure
Sensor Type
Pressure
Sensor
Pompom /
Woven
SENSITIVITY
LOW
HIGH
Bend
Sensor Type
Sandwich
VELOSTAT
Surface
EEONTEX
SENSITIVITY
SCALE
CONSIDERATIONS
What scale does my project require?
SMALL
Cover a small or short area
LARGE
Cover a wide or long area
Sensitivity is more of an issue here
You need to account for more resistance since the materials will go over more distance
Try to use this to your advantage as you consider construction options
INSPIRATION
SENSORS
TacTile (NIME) by Aranya Khurana
INSPIRATION
SENSORS
Crochet Interface by Mengjie Zheng
Lilytronica by Afroditi Psarra
INSPIRATION
SENSORS
INSPIRATION
SENSORS
A Fabric That Remembers by Laura Devendorf
Pressure Tuffet by Liza Stark
Æ SENSATION MAP
SWATCHES
A kit of textile electronics sensors for teaching and learning created by Ieva Marija Dautartaite as her Fabricademy final project. Designed to be used in school FabLabs, this kit allows students to experiment and make more quickly with less barriers.
ETEXTILE SWATCH
EXCHANGE
SWATCHES
A platform for sharing physical work samples in the field of electronic textiles. The exchange wishes to emphasize the importance of physicality and quality workmanship in an increasingly digital world.
The exchange is organized by Hannah Perner-Wilson
Questions?
How do I make connections between hard and soft materials?
HARD TO
SOFT
CONNECTIONS
Multi-stranded wire by Kobakant
Snap breakout by Kobakant
Second Skin by Malou Beemer
FlexAbility by Anna Blumenkranz, Lara Grant, Adrian Freed
Touch (and Staying in Touch) by Anke Loh
PERMANENT
SOLDER + SEW
Solder if you can and ALWAYS cover knots and joints with fabric or hot glue.
PERMANENT
SOLDERING SMD
Place a bit of solder onto the thread or fabric and back of component first, then solder them together. Use flux and tweezers to make your life easier - it takes some getting used to.
Solder if you can and ALWAYS cover knots and joints with fabric or hot glue.
PERMANENT
SOLDER + SEW + CRIMP
A
B
C
D
E
DETACHABLE
GOOD FOR PROTOTYPING
A
B
C
D
ISOLATE
PREVENT SHORTS!
Always cover knots with fabric or hot glue!
A
B
C
D
E
F
WATCH OUT
COMMON MISTAKES
Make sure you have a strong connection. Use your multimeter to test. If sewing, make sure you go round the hole at least 3 times.
Secure loose threads. Glue knots to prevent them from fraying.
Questions?
How do I program
sensor behaviors?
BIG IDEAS
PROGRAMMING
Microcontrollers
COMPUTERS
HELLO WORLD
Different computers are designed to do different things.
PROCESS
OUTPUT
INPUT
FEEDBACK
Take information from the physical world
//Sensors
Control output in the physical world
//Actuators
Due something to the information
ARDUINO
HELLO WORLD
An open-source electronics prototyping platform. It is a hardware and software.
LILYPAD
ARDUINO
Leah Buechley developed the first Arduino designed specifically for wearables in 2006, the LilyPad Arduino.
BOARDS
ARDUINO
There are many different boards you can use for an eTextiles or wearable project. The board you choose will depend on the functionality, form, and materials.
Remember: It’s best to start your project with the Arduino Uno.
LilyPad Main Board
LilyPad SimpleSnap
Adafruit
Flora
Adafruit
Gemma MO
Teensy
LC
FabriXiao
PIN
ARDUINO
A pin is how inputs (buttons, etc) and outputs (LEDs, speakers, etc) communicate with the Arduino.
TX/RX
//serial - transmit/receive
3 ground pins
3 power pins
// 3 volts, 5 volts, VIN ( you can plug 9 volts here)
PIN
ARDUINO
A pin is how inputs (buttons, etc) and outputs (LEDs, speakers, etc) communicate with the Arduino.
14 Digital I/O Pins
On Off
High Low
6 PWM pins ~
ADC
Output range of 0-255
//Use if you want to fade an LED!
6 Analog Input pins
Input range of 0-1023
GPIO PINS
ARDUINO
You will need to use different pins depending on the type of input and output.
| Input | Output |
Digital | On Off High Low Example: Button | On Off High Low Example: Blinking LED |
Analog | Input range of 0-1023 ADC Example: Pressure Sensor | Output range of 0-255 PWM Example: Fading LED |
PINOUT
ARDUINO
TIP: Check documentation before committing to new boards!
FABRIXIAO
ARDUINO
You will be using the FabriXiao, a breakout board for the Xiao ESP32-C3 developed by Adrián Torres. The examples in the next section will show a few different boards, but the concepts are the same for all. Here is excellent documentation for this board and tutorials.
Components + Tools
BOARD + CABLE
COMPONENTS+TOOLS
First Rule of Debugging
Make sure you are using a data cord NOT a power cord
Use solid core (on left) for breadboards and stranded for flexible soldering.
Come in different values (ring color) and wattages (size).
Use to connect out to handmade sensors and/or connect components if using a sewable board.
CORE
COMPONENTS+TOOLS
JUMPER WIRE
RESISTORS
ALLIGATOR CLIPS
Vertical lines are connected
Horizontal lines are connected
If you don’t have a board with sewable pins, you will need this!
BREADBOARDS
COMPONENTS+TOOLS
Hello, World
Top Toolbar
Upload
Select Board/Port
Serial Monitor
Text editor
THE IDE
PROGRAMMING
Side Toolbar
Sketchbook
Boards Manager
Library Manager
Message Pane
THE IDE
PROGRAMMING
PROGRAM
FLOW
PROGRAMMING
To program our Arduino, we give it a set of instructions (or commands) in the form of code.
00110010
10011000
PROGRAM
FLOW
PROGRAMMING
The compiler reads and runs those instructions sequentially.
THINK ABOUT IT
PROGRAMMING
Review the code right. Take a moment to think through what you think is happening in human language.
Premade functions like digitalWrite() allow you to perform actions on your Arduino. Sometimes they take parameters like the pin number.
BLINKING
PROGRAMMING
digitalWrite(pin, HIGH/LOW);
delay(value in milliseconds);
pinMode(pin, INPUT/OUTPUT);
IDE SETUP
PROGRAMMING
You must tell Arduino what board and port you are using.
You may need to do some additional set up depending on the board
If you don’t see it there, go to Tools and select the specific board and port there
Switches
Reading Digital Input
Goal
Turn on an LED if a button is pressed
EXTERNAL
RESISTOR
OPTION 1
Using a pull down resistor ensures it is in a high or low state so the Arduino can read it.
The standard is 10K Ohms (brown, black, orange) and is connected between GRD and the signal pin.
Switch Lead 1
Switch Lead 2
CODE
OPTION 1
See Examples > Digital > Blink
BUILT IN
RESISTOR
OPTION 2
If you don’t have resistors or extra space for one, you can use built in pull up resistors.
This will activate the internal 20K ohm resistor on a pin that connects to power. Note that this is different from pull down, which goes to ground.
Switch Lead 1
Switch Lead 2
BUILT IN
RESISTOR
OPTION 2
Because the resistor is attached to power instead of ground, this inverts the logic of on and off. We can change this in the code inside the conditional.
//normally on
pinMode(D2, INPUT);
HIGH LOW
//normally off
pinMode(D2, INPUT_PULLUP);
HIGH LOW
SETUP:
LOOP: Constantly checks the button to see if pressed or not and stores in sensorVal
CODE
OPTION 2
See Examples > Digital > DigitalInputPullup
Sensors
Reading Analog Input
Goal
Increase the brightness of an LED when the sensor is activated
The sensors we construct measure changes in resistance.
But Arduino is all digital. It cannot read changes in resistance, but it can read changes in voltage.
ARDUINO CAN’T READ RESISTANCE
SENSORS
Image from Kobakant
You can divide the voltage by using 2 resistors.
As the ratio between two resistors changes, the voltage you get in the between them changes.
VOLTAGE
DIVIDERS
SENSORS
This means we can send Arduino a change in voltage, which it can use!
For more on voltage dividers, see KOBAKANT’s tutorial or the Sparkfun tutorial.
Diagram from Kobakant
CIRCUIT
SENSORS
This is a voltage divider. We need it to translate the changes in resistance to changes in voltage for the Arduino to read it. 10K Ohms (brown, black, orange) is a standard value to use.
CODE
SENSORS
Review the code right. Take a moment to think about what is happening in human language.
What do you think the LED behavior will be?
THINK ABOUT IT
SENSORS
Unlike digital switches, analog sensors output a range of values.
But how can we make those values visible in order to do something useful, like visualize pressure using an LED?
SERIAL
SENSORS
Serial communication is a type of communication protocol that computers, microcontrollers, and sensors use to talk to each other.
These devices transmit and receive data by sending digital pulses back and forth at an agreed upon rate called the baud rate (usually 9600).
Technically speaking, it is a UART asynchronous serial protocol.
Image from Adafruit
The serial monitor makes information visible. This is very helpful to:
Key functions:
Serial.begin(9600);//baud rate
Serial.println(“String”);
Serial.println(pin);
Always start the serial port
Print incoming values. Use -ln to add a line break between each one
The right icon will opens the monitor, the left opens a graph
Questions?
STARTER
CODE
SENSORS
Sensor Starter Code: readSensVal_STARTER.ino
Depending on your sensor, the values coming in might not match the 0 to 255 range we want for the LED or another output.
We will learn 3 strategies to do this:
MAKING SENSE OF DATA
SENSORS
MAPPING
STRATEGY 1
35
976
0
255
map(value,35,976,0,255)
Find the lowest and highest values using the serial monitor:
Step 1: Change value to sensorValue
Step 2: Let your sensor rest for 10 seconds. This is your fromLow
Step 3: Press your sensor as hard as you can. This is your fromHigh
Step 4: Add 0 and 255 as the last two values
MAPPING
STRATEGY 1
Example: readSensVal_M.ino
map(sensorValue,fromLow,fromHigh,0,255)
CONSTRAIN
STRATEGY 2
constrain() keeps values within a certain range.
35
976
0
255
11
constrain(value,0,255)
-2
🚫
When we are mapping, we may get a value that throws a negative number or a value outside of the range we want. Constrain allows us to remove these values.
CONSTRAIN
STRATEGY 2
x: the number to constrain, all data types
a: the lower end of the range, all data types
b: the upper end of the range, all data types
constrain(x, a, b)
Example: readSensVal_M_C.ino
Smoothing reads input values repeatedly, stores ten in an array, then takes the average and repeats the process over again. If you have jumpy values, use this.
File > Examples > Analog > Smoothing
SMOOTHING
MEANINGFUL DATA
Example: readSensVal_M_C_S.ino
Choose one place to start:
CHECKLIST
DEBUGGING
Questions?
TAKEAWAYS
REVIEW
Your assignment
See the appendix for more resources!
ASSIGNMENT
FOR NEXT WEEK
Thank You!
LIZA STARK
thesoftcircuiteer.net
Appendix: Resources
TUTORIALS
RESOURCES
ACCESS
(US)
MATERIALS
But where can I buy these awesome materials?
There are many other places - research!
LessEMF (NY State)
VTech Textiles (NY State)
Shieldex (formerly Statex) (US distributor)
Adafruit (NY State)
Sparkfun (NY State)
ACCESS
(EU)
MATERIALS
But where can I buy these awesome materials?
There are many other places - research!
Karl Grimm (Germany)
Bart and Francis (Belgium)
Shieldex (formerly Statex) (Germany)
ImBut (Germany)
SUSTAINABILITY
MATERIALS
Electronics + Textiles
Two biggest producers of waste globally and consumers of resources that exploit the land and people on it.
eTextiles
Not reasonable to separate in order to recycle/reuse.
Some researchers are thinking about the whole lifecycle and designing new materials. Keep an eye here in 2024!
Best Practices for Us
Design for low/no waste
Design for separation
Learn more - a few resources are here (folder in need of an update)
Appendix: Switch + Sensor Diagrams
FABRIC
TRACES
(A) Use a low setting on the iron with no steam. (B) Place the Heat’N’Bond over the fabric, then place another piece of light fabric on top. (C) Place the iron on the fabric and hold for 7-10 seconds. (D) Let it sit and cool, then repeat if necessary. (E) Cut the fabric as you wish, then remove the backing and iron it onto your piece.
A
B
C
D
E
F
MOMENTARY
TOGGLE //SNAPS
TOGGLE //ZIPPER
STROKE
HOW TO
TILT
PRESSURE //VELOSTAT
PRESSURE //EEONTEX
BEND
POTENTIOMETER //KNIT
POTENTIOMETER //FABRIC
POTENTIOMETER //ANALOG TILT
STRETCH //FABRIC
STRETCH //KNIT
Appendix: Additional References
Breadboard Pincushion by KOBAKANT
Shirt Circuit: DIY Wearable Breadboard Circuits by clementzheng
SENSING TEXTURES: TACTILE RESISTANCE
SWATCHES
Created by Afroditi Psarra, Sadaf Sadri, Esteban Agosin, Grace Barar, Rylie Sweem, Cindy Xu, Ruoxi Song, and Zoe Kaputa. Images from https://www.dx-softlab.com/zine
FLEXABILITY
SWATCHES
An e-Textile Kit For People With Limited Mobility
Flexibility created by Anna Blumenkranz, Lara Grant, and Adrian Freed. Images from http://flex-ability.org/
PROJECTS
WOVEN SENSORS
Weaving Sense at Icelandic Textile Center by Zoe Romano