Concept:
For my open project, I crafted two stretchable knitted sleeves that react (by fading LEDs) when the user stretches out their arms.

Objective:
The project idea came from our class ideation exercise. Sleeves, stretching and relief. One of the core wearability concepts talks about creating wearable’s that are a “successful extension of the body”. For me, I have this habit of standing up and stretching my body. I wanted to recreate this feeling of extension into a material object. Whenever I stretch my arms, the material reacts to my movements and turns on LEDs.

Process:
Sketches of different ideas for the final completed wearable.
Loom knitting the sleeves. Every few lines, I would measure the length and determine if it was long enough to move onto the next step.

The next step of the process was adding conductive thread near the bottom rows of each sleeve. I would test the resistant values while I was knitting to determine if there was enough resistance between the beginning of the conductive thread and the end. This process was done for both sleeves.

Next step was to knit a collar to hold the battery and cpx. I measured around my neck, arms, chest to determine how long I would need to knit for. The first step when you’re knitting yarn you’ve never used before, is to knit a swatch. This photo is a 6 inch swatch (not 27 inches).

This is planning out the placement of the LEDs. The sleeves were turned inside out. The LEDs were flipped downwards to avoid any uncomfortable poking and sewed on felt with conductive thread.

Coding part:

This part was fairly easy to put together. The more tricky part was trying to determine value parameter for each stretchy sleeve. Using the Arduino IDE and serial monitor makes it a lot easier to program the CPX.

Final Project Images (and video below)

https://youtu.be/4d7NUSlvfxc

Parts List

• Yarn (preferably one colour or a matching colour).
• Loom knitter.
• Knitting needles.
• Conductive thread.
• PVC circuit wires.
• Resistors (200 ohm, 56 ohm).
• LEDs (plus 330 ohm resistors).
• Fabric scissors.
• Felt fabric.
• Li-poly battery (850 mAh).

Circuit Diagram:

Reflections & Next Steps
The easiest part of this project was knitting (I had previous knowledge and experience). The most difficult part was deciding on which wires were conductive thread and which had to be PVC wires.

When reading the resistant values of conductive thread, you have to attach one wire at the beginning and one at the end. You need one wire not to interact with the knitted conductive thread parts. It’s not easy sewing and attaching a PVC circuit wire to knitted material.

This is one part that I struggled the most with and I will continue experimenting with different conductive materials and yarn to hopefully avoid using PVC circuit wire for the stretch component.

Next steps, I will continue knitting a sweater to attach to my sleeves.

Resources & Related Works

• Arduino, & Arduino_Scuola. (2016, July 8). Tubolar Stretch Sensor Tutorial. Arduino. https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/Arduino_Scuola/tubolar-stretch-sensor-tutorial-fdb5c5
• Knit Stretch Sensors. (n.d.). Kobakant. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=1762
• Knit Wrist Sensors. (n.d.). Kobakant. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=4461
• Knitted stretchy cable. (n.d.). Kobakant. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=2245

Detachable Notes

video of Detachable Notes

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INTRODUCTION

“Detachable Notes” is a wearable that allows people to attach and detach wearable electronics which might have various functions. The attachment of the day could be decided by users that which components fit the most of that day. For example, if a user might need to walk back home at late night with few lights on the street, he/she could choose to carry the component that could remind the cars or other people that there is a person walking in the dark. Since it is a T-shirt, users will need to wear it directly, not adding on other clothing. Except for the connection between each component, all the component is removable. They could be unattached to avoid the connection or switch with other components. There are three modes now in this wearable. The first mode would be when users click Button A on the circuit playground express, the component in the front will blink 20 times. The second mode is when users click Button B on the circuit playground express, The component on the back will have rainbow light. The third mode is to close everything. Pressing Button A and Button B at the same time, all the action will stop. The purpose of the users of wearing this wearable could be various since it is component-based that could achieve different effects.

This version of the “Detachment Notes” shirt, it includes three components. The one in white-flower shape is for the battery and circuit playground express, allowing them to control and send code to the components. The other two are light components. The yellow flower-looking light component has a meaning of happiness. When the user wears it on the shirt, it indicating a happy emotion. The blinking light is between yellow and orange, trying to deliver a positive emotional effect. The one on the back is a butterfly component. Its work is to remind other people in the dark that there is one person here, avoiding the hit from cars but looks beautiful at the same time.

There will be more components along with the development, however, in the first version, there will be only two versions being shown.

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CONCEPT

Idea & Inspiration

The inspiration first came from a tutorial from Kobakant (https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=5660). It is an Electromagnetic Velcro. However, the author indicates that it will turn out hot and burn the fabric and it might not be stable. I got the inspiration to separate the circuit into two pieces and decided to use the press button that I explored in exploration journal 3 instead. So, I could put the CPX and the battery on the clothing and connect the pins with one side of the press button. And then use a separate fabric with another side of the press button as well as the circuit including the input and output.

Also, I think it could be really interesting that explore and create a wearable that the components could be add on or remove, which similar to a device such as a phone. The clothing’s connection-based like a physical phone and the components is the application that features on it.

What I am Creating

I tried to use the LED string as the light source. And the press button will have a similar effect with the switch. Only when the button is connected, the circuit is complete. On the components, there will be some conductive press buttons and some non-conductive press buttons, they were used for connecting to the circuit and help for fixing the position of the components respectively. On the clothing, using conductive thread and conductive fabric to connect the buttons to help close the circuit. The connection is fixed on clothing. Component One, flower shape with white and orange colours, the purpose of it is to share the warm, optimistic, happiness emotion to others. Component Two, butterfly shape with purple and white colours, the purpose of it is to remind other people that there is someone in case it is really dark and can barely see people on street.

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OBJECTIVE

The object of “Detachment Notes” is trying to explore more on the separation on the clothing and the wearable electronic so that could see the difference from the wearable that is sewing and fix on the clothing. With the Detachment Notes, users have more freedom on it. It is not specific to one topic. And users are allowed to have some customization of how it will look and what functions it is going to perform by selection materials, function, and different sensors. For me, it looks like a”LEGO” in the wearable technology area.

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Wearabilities

• Comfort: The components and connection parts are all fixed on the outside of the t-shirt. They don’t have a direct connection with skin except for the arm. At the same time, it is made of soft material which is friendly to the skin.
• Durability: Since the circuit playground express and all the other electronic components are detachable, so uses could remove all the electronic parts and use water to wash the cloth. Moreover, most of the sewing part is hidden under the fabric so that it could keep the thread away from damage.
• Usability: Since it is a components-based wearable, users could always add more or switch to another component that has different functions on clothing. Therefore, it could fulfill most of the needs of users. The only problem will be the there is no way to change the background since it is fixed on the t-shirt.
• Aesthetics: In my point of view, the aesthetics of the “Detachable Notes” is well fitted in this topic. As I mentioned just now, it looks like a “LEGO” toy to me, therefore, it is more cartoon style. And I believed that there are people who also love this style. Moreover, on the t-shirt, the cloud and glass are for hiding the conductive thread and fabric, so that it is there in purposed. If some users don’t like the style, it could always able to change into another theme and style, as long as it is having the same functions.

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Process

Ideation drawing

At the beginning drawing of the idea, I was planning to create two rectangle components with two materials and two effects.

After some brainstorms, the idea has been iterated. The form and shape of the components are not fixed anymore, And it is a garden theme that has glass, flowers, butterfly on it. In this drawing, I put a heart that could be active by capacitive touch, however, due to the time consuming, I decided to give up this component.

This is the detailed design I planned to create in these components.

I get out how the light will perform under the cotton and adding a felt sheet on top.

Cutting ut the pieces. I cut out a hole because I would like more light could be delivered from the LED strip.

Similar to butterfly components, cutting out and creating a hole for more light comes out.

Similar to the butterfly components, cutting our, creating a spot for the CPX and the battery.

Testing the LED strip. And this is the video.

After the consideration, I decided to add two more buttons in order to have capacitive touch, for the purpose of activating the code. However, after the consideration of time, I decided not to do it in this project.

Due to the covid-19 situation in Tronto, there are fewer places that sell art supplies, Micheal only got two packs of the conductive version of the press button. The black one in non-conduction. But I need the more button that is conductive, therefore, I taped the copper type on the button to make it conductive, and it works as expected.

Using conductive fabric for the main part to replace the conductive thread. so that it will be cleaner when looking at the outside.

Video1/Video2

Connect the LED strip to the conductive buttons. Also, testing if it works. The LED strip is in series connection.

Working on the connection part where need to place the press buttons in the right place, and having conductive thread and fabric to connect between each press buttons. Also, testing if the connection is good in the circuit.

Video1/Video2

The final look. It looks great and cute. The light can not really see it when it’s super bright outside. But it is really clear in a darker area. The video could be found at the top of the page.

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Part lists

- Circuit Playground Express
- 60 WS2812 RGB Addressable LED Strip
- 3.7V 400mAh Lithium-Ion Polymer Battery
- Conductive thread
- Conductive fabric
- Copper tape
- Non-conductive
- Press buttons (conductive x 2Packs and non-conductive x 2Packs)
- Felt with various colours (Purple, Orange, Green, Darker Green, White)
- Cotton Balls
- Sewing set
- Scissors
- Another type of fabric
- Glue gun

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Code and Circuit Diagram

MakeCode Link

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Reflection and Next Steps

Reflection

During the process of making, I need to plan ahead and buy more materials. The reason why I use copper tape on the black press button is that there is not enough for the needs. So for the next or future course-related assignment, I would prefer but more than what I think I need, which allows me some areas to change my idea. Also, I did not use different materials as mediums for the components. If using different materials as an example, it would be more interesting and understandable for the user to get the advantages of the detachable wearable technology. It is a pity that I did not contain capacitive touch or any sensors in the project. This related back to my first problem that did not have enough conductive touch for additional sensors. Moreover, I did something wrong in the arrangement of the button. For the butterfly, the arrangement of the button is “ground”, “data pin”, and “Vout” from top to the bottom, however, the arrangement in the yellow follow is “Ground”, “Vout” and “data pin”. So that when they exchange the position, the light is not working.

Next Step

For the next step, first fix the arrangement of the position of the bottom and make it work. And then I would like to produce more components for the clothing. Also, I would like to try using some sewing techniques on the component sheet so that it looks more aesthetic. In addition, adding sensors and sensors as one of the components would be a great idea as well! The component sheet is not fixed to the sensor using as well!

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Reference

Blaine, E. S. (2019). LED NeoPixel Corset with Circuit Playground Express and MakeCode. Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/led-corset-with-circuit-playground-and-makecode/wiring-diagram.

Halleux, P. de. (2017). NeoPixels with MakeCode. Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/neopixels-with-makecode/overview.

YouTube. (2019). Behind the MakeCode Hardware - NeoPixels on Circuit Playground Express. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo0cM2qmuAE.

VELCRO, E. L. E. C. T. R. O. M. A. G. N. E. T. I. C. (2020). HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=5660.

Park, J. (2020). No-Touch Hand Wash Timer for Circuit Playground Express and CLUE. Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/no-touch-hand-wash-timer-for-cpx-and-clue/circuit-playground-express-timer.

 

 

 

-Video (Including creation process & troubleshooting & final work-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7DMJxCw-0A

-Inspiration-

In this final work, I would like to create an interactive way existing in a wearable outfit. I finally made the decision of making an interactive method on a hoodie. I gained inspiration for this object from both the content of the lecture and the patterns on the original hoodie. I was really into the use of capacitive touch, hoping to create something with capacitive touch being applied. Later, I brainstormed and came up with some ideas that I could extend.

My first idea was to create a lighting, adjustable collar. In the middle of the collar, I could design a special pattern, when it connects with the one on the other side of the collar, the circuit will be closed and the collar will light up. I later found that it might be difficult to make a pattern like that because the length of the centre part of the collar will be hard to match perfectly. Then I came up with another idea, which was to use capacitive touch to control the light on the shirt. I will hide the tail of the capacitive touch in my pocket, so, when people place their hands in the pocket, they can control the patterns illuminating on the shirt.  

-Final Concept/ Objective-

I finally decided to combine the two elements altogether by creating an interactive hoodie using capacitive touch. I decided to make this and there are three main reasons. The first reason is that for the previous assignments, I had explored the strategy by closing a circuit and making the lights up for several times. So, in this assignment, I would like to try something new. The second reason is that the hoodie was a very good medium to perform my concept. I could decorate the hat on the hoodie and hide the capacitive touch inside of the pocket. The third reason is that I see this could be an idea that fulfills all the wearability requirements. It will have a good outlook, easy access to use, and a well-protected structure to avoid the circuit being hurt, and it will be comfortable for people to use and wear. 

-Parts List-

1. conductive thread
2. light-tight fabric
3. Circuit Playground Express
4. wire with non-conductive cover
5. buttons
6. non-conductive fabric
7. (optional) a hoodie with a hat and pocket
8. sewing supplies such as scissors, non-conductive thread, sewing machine (optional)
9. mobile power supply/battery
10. USB charge wire
11. LEDs
12. cotton

-Process-

Material trying out: At the beginning, I tried to explore different materials and fabrics’ degrees of transmittance of light. I made some cute lighting bubbles with a layer of shading fabric, a layer of recycled silk and a space to fill buttons. I decided to insert buttons because I found that it will help to spread lights from the LED inside of the bubble evenly.    

Because there are some existing patterns on my hoodie, I later decided to directly put my LEDs inside of the patterns that were already existing. However, I rethought the initial idea of my creation and found that my artwork lacked a theme. I then decided to add something related to fashion in my artwork. 2021 is the cow year in the Chinese traditional calendar, so I decided to add a cow horn on the hat by using the same material so my artwork can resonate with the fashion trend and the culture.  

I later designed the circuit of my work and tested the code. I tried to avoid the intersection of the circuit but found it was not possible.

I sew the circuit on the hat. Before I did that, I sewed an extra layer using a sewing machine on the inner side of the hat so I could sew my circuit without influencing the hat’s appearance. I later used nail polish on the conductive thread after I did the circuit sewing. For the capacitive lines, I used a very thin wire as it is covered by insulation material. So even though there are some intersections, the circuit will work perfectly as well.

On the capacitive touch side, I sew three buttons on the inner layer of the pocket. I noticed that I should always use the buttons where the centre is sag as that will reduce the possibilities for users to touch the capacitive buttons mistakenly. 

I finally added a third layer in the hat of the hoodie so the outfit will be very clean.

 

-Wearability Analyze-

1. Comfortable: For making the circuit being comfortable to wear on the hoodie, I added two extra laters to my hoodie hat to make that a “sandwich” structure. The first “bread” underneath will be the original layer of the hat, the “vegetables” in the middle will be the second layer I sewed above the original hat (which is the layer I sewed all the circuits on). The other “bread” layer on the sandwich will be the layer I sewed after I did all the circuits to hide the circuit. Besides the hat of the hoodie, I also sewed another layer inside the body of the hoodie to hide the capacitive wires inside between the layer and the hoodie, so people will not feel any circuit or wires.
2.  Aesthetic:  For making the final work looks well-polished, I first made attempt to use the sewing machine to make the button lighting bubbles. However, I later found that I still could not make every detail perfect. Taking the snow flick as an example, I could not use the sewing machine to sew a snow-flake shape, instead, I can only sew that as a pentagon. However, if I make the pattern as a pentagon, it will not look sloppy. Especially when the LED inside is not lighting up and people could not see the snow-flick shape inside of it. As a result, I used the original patterns on the hoodie instead and later changed my idea into making cow horns to make the hoodie decorations more polished.
3. Durability: The hoodie will be good to wear and not easy to be broken. As I used layers circuits between other layers of fabrics. I also used nail polish to make the conductive thread coated so there will not be any “short circuit” to break the CPX. I also added a lot of stitching using embroidery on each line of the conductive thread circuit so they will not be twisted with each other. I also designed each pattern of this project to look good even there are no LEDs lighting up. So even people wear this hoodie without concerning this circuit functions, it will also look on them.
4. Usability: This hoodie as a wearable electronics project will be good to use. That is because I set the triggers of the capacitive touch inside of the pocket. So people could access them easily. Manipulating the capacitive touch in the pocket will also make this a personal behaviour for the users and they will be able to perform themselves anytime in anywhere they want.

-Next Steps-

• I am currently using a mobile power supply as the power supply of this work. The disadvantage is that the mobile power supply will be disconnected every 10 seconds. In the future, I would like to apply another way of doing power supply such as batteries, so the CPX will not be easily disconnected and people can carry the power supply easily at the same time. 
• I will further explore my cotton light bubbles by making them more polished to be displayed. I choose not to use the cotton light bubbles with patterns that I made because they looked a little bit wired when LEDs are not lighting up. I would like to find a way which makes the patterns look great on the hoodie even if the LED inside is not illuminating.  

-reference-

Mackey, A. (2019, March 1). Vega Edge. SOCIAL BODY LAB. http://socialbodylab.com/vega-edge/. 

neidlinger , kristin. (n.d.). GER Mood Sweater. Sensoree. https://www.sensoree.com/artifacts/ger-mood-sweater/. 

Capacitive Touch. (2021). Week8 lecture- Capacitive Touch. https://canvascloud.ocadu.ca/courses/1271/pages/intro-to-week-7-~7-min?module_item_id=124057. 

Prior, O. (2021). Wearability. Week7 lecture- wearability. https://canvascloud.ocadu.ca/courses/1271/pages/wearability-~40-min?module_item_id=124060.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CRYSTAL STAR VIDEO (REUPLOADED NEW VERSION)

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MAKECODE

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references

 

Project Proposal: Gaming Night 

Project Concept

The inspiration for this project comes from my friends and our biweekly meetings via zoom to stay connected and play various games. Most of the games that we play require either a dice or a timer and it’s usually a burden to look for these objects. This is why I decided to make a sweater that will have a built-in dice and timer located in the forearm so it’s viewable to the user. 

The results of the dice and timer will be displayed in a seven segment display. To show results for the dice the user will have to shake their arm. To start the timer they will have to press a button. 

Check out the final project in the link below: 

https://youtu.be/z627VfIl3rY

Objective 

Throughout the semester I really enjoyed working with LEDs and the CPX itself as an output. Nonetheless, I wanted to challenge myself with this Open Project and I decided to use a segment display, which I have never used before. My goal was to learn a little bit more in depth how coding and physical computer works, and how that can translate to a wearable project. 

I also wanted to make something useful and fun that will help me connect with my friends and share with them my new found passion for electronics and wearables! 

Parts List 

1x Adafruit 7-segment LED backpack 

1x Circuit Playground Express

4x male/female jumper wires (preferred) 

Piece of felt

Conductive thread

Non-conductive thread

Needle

Silicone gun and glue

Soldering wire and iron

Alligator clips 

USB cable

Yarn 

Crochet hook

Progress

The Adafruit 7-segment display requires soldering. So, the first thing that I did was to learn how to solder. Here’s a quick video of how I did it: 

https://youtu.be/Dv8jDzkjTq0

After that step, I connected my display into a breadboard so I could test it. I had to download the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and the Adafruit LED backpack segment display libraries into the Arduino IDE. This helped me gain to different examples on how to use the display. I also used this schematic for reference:

After a lot of research I was able to find some resources that helped me with the code. I had to make use of different examples from the library such as the hello accelerometer and hello sound. After a few trials and errors, here’s the final code:

This is my first time using the Arduino IDE for the CPX and I’m also a beginner in Arduino. Here’s a quick video of some of the trials:

https://youtu.be/_kZEKAQc6G4

After getting it to work in the breadboard, it was time to sew it in a piece of felt. To connect the segment display to the conductive thread I used a male / male wire that I had to strip to sew it together. Ideally this would have been better with a male / female wire. 

The circuit looked like this:

To cover the circuit I decided to start crocheting. Once I finished I sewed the felt to the crochet and I opened a hole for the display. I later attached the crochet to the sweater. 

Finally I added the designs!

Initial sketches

Originally I wanted to add a necklace for the timer but I realized that the segment display will work just as good for it. I also wanted to have the micro controller in the forearm so it will allow the user to shake their arm to roll the dice. This gesture was important to me since when you have a physical dice you shake them first. I wanted to simulate that experience, and that’s why I decided to change the location of CPX. 

Final Sketch

I decided to also add sound everytime the user rolls the dice since I was having trouble in the trials figuring out if it did roll or not.

Circuit Diagram

Final 

Reflection

Overall, the project was really fun to make. The sweater felt comfortable and light and I was able to enjoy it with my friends. Here’s a picture of our game night: 

To make this sweater better I would try to crochet the hole already so I don’t have to cut through it. I would also make it bigger and I would love to use velcro so its size becomes adjustable and the circuit is removable, making the sweater washable. 

I wanted to incorporate a battery but unfortunately Creatron was closed due to lockdown and I wasn’t able to get the battery on time. Nonetheless, since all of my meetings are online I had no trouble connecting it to the computer and it never bothered me during my games. 

I would love to keep exploring how to code in Arduino and keep making wearables!

References

Adafruit LED Backpacks Assembly. (2012, July 29). Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-led-backpack/0-dot-56-seven-segment-backpack-assembly

Arduino Setup. (2012, July 29). Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-led-backpack/0-dot-56-seven-segment-backpack-arduino-setup

Circuit Playground D6 Dice. (2016, December 16). Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/circuit-playground-d6-dice/random-or-not

Dungeons and Dragons Dice Gauntlet – learn.sparkfun.com. (2019). Sparkfun. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/dungeons-and-dragons-dice-gauntlet

ESP32: How to Setup Adafruit 7 Segment LED Display w/I2C Backpack. (2020, April 18). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESo_gSL9Fr4

Fidget Spinner Tachometer. (2017, July 8). Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/fidget-spinner-tachometer/hardware

Interfacing a 4-Digit 7-Segment Display. (2019). Arduino Project Hub. https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/Tr3v3n_Jaganath/interfacing-a-4-digit-7-segment-display-8506ca

✨🌸Twinkle Toes🌸✨

    

Concept

My project is a sock with twinkling lights on the tips of its toes triggered by a pressure sensor that sits under the big toe. When the pressure sensor is pressed, the LEDs light up one after the other from the blue one, to red, to green. I added some flowers to create a very playful, whimsical aesthetic.

Objective

My goal was to create something fun and cheerful during such a down and exhausting time. I could see this piece being more for children who enjoy dressing up in costume or for those in performance/dance who would like to add a twinkling light to their feet that help track their movements.

Process

First I flipped the sock inside-out and sewed in the CPX and LEDs

*NOTE* I cut up a piece of paper and wedged it in-between the CPX and the fabric so it wouldn’t burn out.

  

Then I added the pressure sensor on the other side where the big toe would go.

 

I made sure none of the wires crossed over each other. If they needed to cross paths, I made sure they were looped on opposite sides of the fabric.

Finally, I tested it out.

I taped a paper barrier to my foot to avoid the CPX coming in direct contact with my skin.

  

As a way to cover up the messy wires and add a more fun fairy-like aesthetic, I added some flowers on the surface.

  

Materials List

• White cotton sock
• Conductive thread
• 1 Blue LED, 1 Red LED, 1 Green LED
• Circuit Playground Express
• 200 Ohm resisters & 10k Ohm resistors
• Fake flowers and leaves
• Paper

Reflection and Next Steps

I’m super happy with the turn out. I had little to no issues with the code. They only part that gave me problems sometimes were the LEDs and resistors coming loose and I would have to tighten the thread a little bit. If I were to take this further I would definitely add a second sock  and experiment with different LED patterns. I would probably add a few other LEDs around the entire sock. Finally I would probably spend more time creating a better barrier between the device and my direct skin as opposed to just paper.

Resources and Related Works

Skechers. (n.d.). S Lights: Sweetheart Lights.

Retrieved from  https://www.skechers.com/kids/girls/s-lights-sweetheart-lights/302059L.html

 

 

In which I once again try to solve all of my problems with knitting. This project changed a lot as it progressed; I learned a whole lot and think I made some big steps forward in researching soft circuits for my own practice. the goal of this piece was to make not a garment with electronics IN it, but a garment that IS the electronic, i.e. the full integration of wearable&electronic. It’s also supposed to be very snuggly and cozy, so I tried to maximize soft&fluffiness, and was very successful in that.

Soft Speaker Sweater ft. Brown Party Liquor (battery pack in front pocket powers speakers, liquor powers model, she wouldn’t come upstairs unless I let her drink)

Above right, the controller is hidden under the folded turtleneck collar and the buttons to toggle the 2 audio files on and off are easily pressed with the right hand.

You can see the amplifier under the speaker in the above left pic; components are connected with conductive thread sewn into the knit fabric using duplicate stitch. The chenille texture allows the thread to be pulled tight against the core thread of the yarn. The yarn is very bulky as well, and this combined with the “shag carpet” texture hides thread and wires.

9V battery slips inside the front pants pocket; I drafted some designs with a little knit pocket for the power source in the sweater itself, but that ruined the fit and line of the garment. What I like about this solution is that the power source can be switched on separately from the audio toggle; so the circuit can be all ready to go and the wearer just needs to press the button at the collar when they feel like surrounding themselves&their cuddle buddy with some ambient fuzz noises.

Materials

CPX controller
Mono audio amp (1.4W 8ohm)
Conductive thread
26 AWG copper magnet wire
Royal Velvet Yarn by Loops and Threads
Knitting needles
Battery pack with switch (I tested with a 9V pack and a 4 AA pack before I decided on the 9V)
Neodymium magnets (I tested 1/2″ and 1/4″ before deciding to just sew both into each speak for max range)
My roommate (age 28)

Ideation & Planning:

I wanted to make an “intuitive makeout soundtrack sweater.” My early ideation was for a cozy sweater with hidden small speakers sewn into it, that each played an audio track mapped to a pin of the CPX controller. The plan was to break the circuit for each speaker with a contact sensor that would connect when someone placed  a hand (i.e. hugging/cuddling the wearer and placing pressure on the sensor) on the location of that speaker.

I am left-handed, so I consulted with a few right-handed people to choose the locations of my audio output areas and settled on these areas, from which I chose four for the final piece:

In researching the audio capabilities of the CPX controller, I came to the conclusion that there were not enough pins or memory in the controller for my original plan to be feasible. The controller can also only send audio to powered speakers, and so wiring a power source for all my tiny store-bought speakers would use up more pins than were available (I still have the little speakers from creatron though, and they are still really fun to add to other stuff).

This led me to instead begin designing a sweater with speakers integrated into the fabric itself. The locations of the audio outputs, power source, and controller remained the same as in my original proposal. The path of the conductive thread I sewed throughout the knit fabric of the sweater to connect all the circuits stayed the same as well.

Process:

Obviously the first step was to knit a sweater, so here it is with my needles still stuck in it before it was finished (there’s no pattern to cite, I just measure the person and knit from the top down):

And here it is all grown up with finished, constructed speakers and controller sewn in.

To create the speakers, I knitted coils (1 for each speaker) from copper wire. These function as the front of a speaker; to hold the magnet to the back, I knitted little pouches out of conductive steel thread. The magnet sticks to this square of fabric, and the outer edges are sewn to the copper swatch with more conductive thread.

At this point I set up some little test circuits before sewing in the amplifiers and controller; I had made a separate fabric swatch and speaker coil for this.

Here I found out that 9V was necessary to power all my soft speakers, and that an mp3 in stereo that was above a certain file size could not be played through a mono amplifier, or sent to a single speaker, even if I clipped the stereo audio jack so that left, right, and ground ran through a single wire. I also learned that this is the wrong way to clip it, the clip should go vertically and contact all 3 rings:

Below: Audio coming from controller connects to speakers via conductive threads in fabric of sweater; amps and power not sewn into the final product yet.

Reflections & Next Steps:

Part of the charm of the ambient-noise-cuddle-sweater is that the audio was crappy; but for next time, larger, stronger magnets will be a must. The area of the speaker coil that vibrates depends on the range of the magnet, which depends on its strength. The next size up from the largest magnet I used is almost 20x more expensive, so I may research other aspects of speaker construction that I could alter in my design to increase volume.

Another option could be to add volume controllers or a different type of amplifier into the garment, but this would affect the softness of the circuit, which is my priority in all my pieces for this class.

Although the final piece ended up just having audio turned on/off from the CPX, I kept the speaker placements from my original sensor-triggered circuit so I can develop this idea further. The major obstacle to my original vision was that there just aren’t enough pins! In the future, I would redesign the sweater to omit the CPX completely; since the controller can only play audio through powered speakers, my thinking is that once I have to build soft speakers AND their power source, I might as well make that the focus of the wearable. Doing this also cuts down on some wires/connectors, which leaves room to bring back the pressure sensors I originally wanted.

If I did this project again, I would basically take the ipod test circuit from my process above and sew that into the sweater, but increase the voltage of the power source and get stronger magnets as well as amplifiers.

This project ended up being more of a prototype, but I really enjoyed learning about and researching the construction of fabric speakers (of all types), as well as of speakers in general. I plan to continue working on pieces similar to this moving forward.

Sources:

Wirtz, P. Spiluttini, C. betaKnit Research–V2 Lab for the Unstable Media. V2. Retrieved 04/11/2021 from https://v2.nl/lab/projects/betaknit-research

Woodford, Chris. (2006/2020) Loudspeakers. Retrieved from https://www.explainthatstuff.com/loudspeakers.html. Accessed 2021/04/09

Adafruit. (2021/04/15). CircuitPython Audio Out. Adafruit Learning System. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-circuit-playground-express/circuitpython-audio-out

Kobakant DIY Wearable Technology Documentation. (2013). Fabric Speaker Swatch Example. HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=5935

Kobakant DIY Wearable Technology Documentation. (2013). Knit Speakers. HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=4465

Distance Detection Mask

Qinxinrui Zhu 3168585

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Concept

This work is a mask combined by CPX and HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance detector. This mask’s shape is inspired by the doctor’s kit invented by Charles de Lorme, a French doctor in the century, to prevent the transmission of the Black Death. The shape of the mask looks like a bird’s beak. At the time of the Black Death epidemic, doctors would fill the brim with spices and herbs and sprinkle perfume outside to avoid the disease’s spread. I will install a distance detector on this. When two people are too close to the distance sensor will sense the distance is too tight and feed the data to CPX then CPX will respond.

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Objective

Because of the current Covid-19 pandemic, everyone has started wearing masks to avoid contracting Covid-19 and spreading it to each other. So I wanted to make a mask with protective properties and at the same time remind people to keep a safe social distance to ensure their safety better, and I also wanted it to serve as some warning. At first, my idea was to install a distance detection device and CPX directly on the ordinary mask, but then the warning effect would be weakened. So I decided to change the shape of the mask to turn it into a beak mask look. The beak mask shape has creepy, so it often appears in some horror games. I hope this mask so that in a particular protective, at the same time his appearance can also play a specific role in warning to remind people that only with an excellent mask to prevent the epidemic to avoid being infected actively. Covid-19 brought people harm will pass as soon as possible, after all, every day with such a mask to bring people only uncomfortable and unattractive. The distance detector will be installed on the outside of the mask. When the distance between two people is lower than the safe distance, CPX will be activated to send sound and light to remind people to maintain a good social distance.

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Process

Code：

https://youtu.be/WO1iK9Dizho

Mask ：

Download a plague doctor mask from the website below

https://ninjatoes.blogspot.com/2014/10/papercraft-wearable-plague-doctor-mask.html

Print off the paper model of the plague doctor and cut the paper model out.

Cut the leather according to the shape of the paper mold. And glue the leather on the corresponding shape of the paper mold. Then Cut out two holes on the side of the beak to accommodate the HC-SR04 ultrasonic detector

Connect the CPX and HC-SR04 ultrasonic with wires, alligator clips, and breadboard.

Cut a piece of plastic to fit the frame and glue the plastic to the frame.

Put together the paper mold with leather glued to it according to the steps.

Put the previously connected CPX and HC-SR04 into the mask, and put the two detectors of HC-SR04 out of the small hole that just cut.

Finished.

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Final Project Images

Video：

https://youtu.be/VJ_sRFd0Ljo

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Circuit Diagram

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Materials List

• Circuit Playground Express
• HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance detector
• Breadboard
• Wires
• 10k resistor
• Alligator clips
• Leather
• Glue gun
• Transparent Plastic

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Reflections & Next Steps 

At first, I wanted to build the mask directly from leather. Still, I realized that there was no way to make it at my current level and with no experience producing leather goods, so I chose to print off a paper model of the mask and then glue leather on the top to make it look like a natural plague doctor mask. HC-SR04 is a distance detector worth exploring, and it can be combined with many things to produce a different effect. But I found making it that it detects a wide range of angles, and it is also more sensitive and can easily detect things at a set distance. The most obvious disadvantage of this surface is that this distance detector will react as soon as it detects something within that distance. My design concept only wants it to react when it detects people too close to each other. So the next step, I will study what equipment can only detect people (infrared) and then improve this mask. Then I will give up the foundation of paper modeling to learn about leather manufacturing and then use the full leather for mask production.

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Resources & Related Works

Ninjatoes. (2014). Papercraft wearable “Plague DOCTOR” MASK. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://ninjatoes.blogspot.com/2014/10/papercraft-wearable-plague-doctor-mask.html

Walters, K. (2017). Distance Measurement with Ultrasound. Retrieved from https://learn.adafruit.com/distance-measurement-ultrasound-hcsr04/connect-the-sensor

Concept

In this Wearable Electronics final open project. I want to make a piece that is closely related to my major, Jewelry. A brooch design had stayed in my mind since the moment I took this course. To keep the design simpler, I chose a flower pattern to incorporate with one of my previous expressive wearable assignments, the Pleasant Shaker. This brooch will be worn on my working apron as the medal shows the completion of this Wearable Electronic Course, my last elective course in OCAD.

Objective

Start from high school, my favourite course is called metal design, a very simple course teaches basic metalworking skills, such as fabricating, soldering, and casting, etc… When it comes to picking a post-graduation institute, I went straight to OCAD because its MAAD program had a branch call Jewelry. The very first class in OCAD was the Intro to Jewelry course. This course teaches the same staff just like what I learned in high school. So that I put more attention around the classroom. The most attractive thing in the class is the brooch pins where our instructors hang on their apron. The brooches are not very shiny but hang like medals from their career. So that I want to make something showing the graduation of this course.

Process

Take the case out from the Pleasant Shaker assignment.

It reserved the opening for the power cord on the bottom.

Create the repeat pattern for the lid.

Reangle the patterns and place into the right height.

Make two branch to place the brooch pin back.

Print it out with clear resin and remove the sprues.

Glue the pins with super glue.

Final Image

Not activate

Activate

Part List

• CPX
• Power cable
• Power Bank
• Pin Back
• LCD 3D Printer
• Transparent Resin

Code

https://makecode.com/_EeA94J1E823X

Reflection and Next step

For the power cord, I tried to remove the protective rubber layer on the type-c cord. But it makes the connection weaker to work with. Unfortunately, the power cord breaks when I tried to insert it into the case. In the future, I will try to show some of the electronics rather than put them all in the case. If the design in the proper way some of the electronic units can be more attractive than the outer case. To simplify the design in the future work will be considered more like only make a frame to hold the electronic units like gemstones. Even though the CPX is a powerful unit to work with, I will still try to incorporate more other electronic units in the future. After working through this course, I had learned a lot about how the electronic unit can be incorporated in the form of jewelry. I started building the basic knowledge around wearable electronics and will keep developing it with jewelry in the future.

Reference

Blaine, E. (2020, September 17). New Guide: Glowing Wire Wrap Necklace Tutorial – Programmable with USB Charging. Adafruit Industries – Makers, Hackers, Artists, Designers and Engineers! https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/09/17/new-guide-glowing-wire-wrap-necklace-tutorial-programmable-with-usb-charging/