NEW METHOD TO ATTACH WEARABLE ELECTRONICS TO CLOTHS

Abstract

The integration of electronic devices and sensors into textiles has many different potential applications. Textile fabrics, from clothing to upholstery and home textiles, are an integral part of daily life and the ability to combine electronics into textiles means that a huge range of valuable data can be collected and used by the wearer to monitor their health, performance and wellbeing, among other uses. One of the most pressing challenges is that of interconnecting electronic components via the textile fibres in a robust and reliable way. Another aspect to be studied is the ability for the electronics to be connected and disconnected when necessary; for example, when charging the batteries or washing the garment. It is this aspect that has been considered by this development to facilitate ease-of-use among the older people. In addition, the complete package must be comfortable enough not to restrict movement, and must be unobtrusive so as to avoid any embarrassment to the wearer. The present paper presents a new solution for the connection of electronic measuring and monitoring devices to textile sensors to monitor variables such as movement, temperature, heart rate and breathing.

Keywords

• Intelligent textiles
• Wearable sensors
• Knitted electrod
• Conductive yarn
• Smart textile