SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
The term Smart Fabrics refers to a broad and somewhat ill-defined field of study and products that extend the functionality and usefulness of fabrics. Humanity has used various types of fabrics for thousands of years to keep warm, provide comfort, and protect from the elements of nature. For most of recorded history, fabrics have also provided a means of self-expression through colors, patterns, cuts, and other stylistic elements. Aside from the vagaries of fashion and variations in practical application, humanitys use of fabric has not extended far beyond the basic needs of protection, comfort, and expression. Recent times (within the last 100 years) have seen the use of specialized, synthetic fabrics that are suitable for specific applications (e.g. Nomex, for its fire-retardant capabilities, or Kevlar, for its high strength), but these fabrics are still passive elements There is some disagreement over the scope of Smart Fabrics, but a broad definition would state that Smart Fabric is traditional fabric with integrated active functionality. Active functionality could include power generation or storage, human interface elements, sensing devices, radio frequency (RF) functionality, or assistive technology. The basic technological elements of smart fabric are conductive or semi conductive threads and yarns, nanoelectronics applied directly to fibers, yarns, or woven elements, and chemical treatments that provide different features. Smart Fabrics differ from Wearable Electronics in that wearable devices are merely contained and carried by clothing, where Smart Fabrics have the functionality of wearable devices actually integrated into the fabric. This is an important distinction to make, because several commercial products marketed as Smart Fabric are actually regular fabric that envelopes traditional electric, electronic, and/or electromechanical (EEE) devices. Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that have electronics and interconnections woven into them. Components and interconnections are a part of the fabric and thus are much less visible and, more importantly, not susceptible to becoming tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. Consequently, e-textiles can be worn in everyday situations where currently available wearable computers would hinder the user. E-textiles also have greater flexibility in adapting to changes in the computational and sensing requirements of an application. The number and location of sensor and processing elements can be dynamically tailored to the current needs of the user and application, rather than being fixed at design time.
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CHAPTER-2 ATTRIBUTES USED IN SMART FABRICS

Power Generation & Storage:- All electronic devices require power, and this is a significant design challenge for Smart Fabrics. Researchers at Stanford University have developed a method for treating paper with carbon-nanotube inks to create batteries and electrodes. Papers fibrous structure allows the inks to permeate the material to create a strong, flexible bond the same technology could be applied to fabric substrates rather than paper, to create a fabric-based energy storage device. Power generation can be achieved through piezoelectric elements that harvest energy from motion or photovoltaic elements. Human Interface Elements:- Human interfaces to active systems can be roughly grouped into two categories: input devices and annunciation or display devices. Input devices can include capacitive patches that function as pushbuttons, or shape-sensitive fabrics that can record motion or flexing, pressure, and stretching or compression. Capacitive patches can also be used to sense physioelectric signals, which allow for user input via electromyogram (EMG) or electroencephalogram (EEG). Sensing Devices:- Fabric-based sensing has been a large field of research in the biomedical and safety communities. Capacitive swatches can be used for electrocardiogram (ECG), EMG, and EEG sensing; fabrics incorporating thermocouples can be used for sensing temperature; luminescent elements integrated in fabrics could be used for biophotonic sensing; shape-sensitive fabrics can sense movement, and can be combined with EMG sensing to calculate muscle fitness. Carbon electrodes integrated into fabrics can be used to detect specific environmental or biomedical features such as oxygen, salinity, moisture, or contaminants. RF Functionality:- Fabric-based antennas are a relatively simple application of Smart Fabrics. Simple fabric antennas are merely conductive yarns of specific lengths that can be stitched or woven into non-conducting fabrics; more complex antennas may be woven into specific shapes and utilize conductive fabrics for shielding and directional use. The use of fabric antennas has already been explored at length by many parties; such antennas are available for cellular and satellite phones, and have been integrated into NASAs Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) EVA suit and the KORONA-M communications system for the Russian Space Agencys ORLAN-M EVA suit.

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-3 MATERIALS USED IN SMART FABRICS

For years the textile industry has been weaving metallic yarns into fabrics for decorative purposes. The first conductive fabric we explored was silk organza which contains two types of fibers; on the warp is a plain silk thread. Running in the other direction on the west is a silk thread wrapped in thin copper foil. This metallic yarn is prepared just like cloth-core telephone wire, and is highly conductive. The silk fiber core has a high tensile strength and can withstand high temperatures, allowing the yarn to be sewn or embroidered with industrial machinery. The spacing between these fibers also permits them to be individually addressed, so a strip of this fabric can function like a ribbon cable. This sort of cloth has been woven in India for at least a century, for ornamental purposes, using silver, gold, and other metals.

Micrograph of silk organza:- Circuits fabricated on organza only need to be protected

from folding contact with themselves, which can be accomplished by coating, supporting or backing the fabric with an insulating layer which can also be cloth. Also, circuits formed in this fashion have many degrees of flexibility (i.e. they can be wadded up), as compared to the single degree of flexibility that conventional substrates can provide. There are also conductive yarns manufactured specifically for producing filters for the processing of fine powders. These yarns have conductive and cloth fibers interspersed throughout. Varying the ratio of the two constituent fibers leads to differences in resistivity. These fibers can be sewn to create conductive traces and resistive elements. Surface mount LEDs, crystals, Piezo transducers, and other surface mount components with pads spaced more than 0.100 inch apart are easy to solder into the fabric. Once components are attached, their connections to the metallic yarn may need to be mechanically strengthened. This can be achieved with an acrylic or other flexible coating. Components with ordinary leads can be sewn directly into circuits on fabric, and specially shaped feet could be developed to facilitate this process. Gripper snaps make excellent connectors between the fabric and electronics. Since the snap pierces the yarn it creates a surprisingly robust electrical contact. It also provides a good surface to solder to. In this way subsystems can be easily snapped into clothing or removed for washing.

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

Fig 2.1 Silk organ.

A Fabric breadboard or smart kerchief:- Several circuits have been built on and
with fabric to date, including busses to connect various digital devices, microcontroller systems that sense proximity and touch, and all-fabric keyboards and touchpads. In the microcontroller circuit shown in Figure 2, a PIC16C84 microcontroller and its supporting components are soldered directly onto a square of fabric. The circuit uses the bidirectional I/O pins on the PIC to control LEDs and to sense touch along the length of the fabric, while providing musical feedback to reinforce the sense of interaction. Building systems in this way is easy because components can be soldered directly onto the conductive yarn.

Fig 2.2 fabric bread board.

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All-fabric switching contact keyboard:- One kind of fabric keyboard uses

piecedconductive and nonconductive fabric, sewn together like a quilt to make a row- and column-addressable structure. The quilted conductive columns are insulated from the conductive rows with a soft, thick fabric, like felt, velvet, or quilt batting. Holes in the insulating fabric layer allow the row and column conductors to make contact with each other when pressed. This insulation also provides a rewardingly springy, button-like mechanical effect. Contact is made to each row and column with a gripper snap, and each snap is soldered to a wire which leads to the keyboard encoding circuitry. This keyboard can be wadded up, thrown in the wash, and even used as a potholder if desired. Such row-andcolumn structures can also be made by embroidering or silk-screening the contact traces.

Fig 2.3 fabric key board.

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-4 TYPES OF SMART FABRICS

There are Three types of smart fabrics. They are:PASSIVE SMART: - It is where the clothe reads about the person who is wearing the clothing. Wearable sensors fall into this category, where the examples including in GPS, clothing integrated baby breathing monitors, and clothing that gives feedback about potential changes in the weather. ACTIVE SMART: - Where the clothing not only senses but reacts to it. Example:-clothing that include depends on the temperature outside, jackets that store solar energy that is used to charge cell phones and cameras, and even built in sensors pinpoint massage to a wearer that is regulated depending on his or her level of stress. ACTIVE VERY SMART: - Where clothing has built in intelligent sensing capacity. Example: sleeves that function has a keyboard for small handled device, clothing that function has a powerful calculator and shirts that can store information through a built-in fabric keyboard and send to via a Bluetooth to a computer. EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF SMART FABRICS

Fig 4.1 Passive smart clothe

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Fig 4.2 Active smart clothe

Fig 4.3 Active very smart clothe

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CHAPTER-5 COMMERCIAL STATE OF SMART FABRICS

Despite these challenges, many companies are exploring potential commercial applications for smart fabric technologies. Consulting agencies have been created to assist in the design, development, and marketing of new products and technology owners are often taking an active role in product development. As the enabling technologies mature and more companies develop the necessary expertise, smart fabrics will move from novelty and niche commercial markets to more mainstream applications. Like Fibretronic soft electronic products:- Fibretronic is a provider of wearable

electromechanical interfaces such as joysticks and pushbuttons used in outdoor wear (such as jackets and gloves). These devices provide users access to traditional electronic devices such as Smartphones, GPS receivers, and portable music players. The interfaces are specifically designed for integration into textile products, but do not represent Smart Fabric technology per se. Examples of commercial products incorporating Fibretronics interfaces are Kombi Sport Gloves. A Smart Fabric evolution of this technology could involve replacing the electromechanical pushbuttons and joysticks with Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC) fabric, and electrical interconnects using integrated conductive yarns.

Fig 5.1 fibrotronic product NuMetrex biological sensing garments:- NuMetrex heart monitoring apparel incorporates patches of conductive fabric into tight-fitting areas of sports garments to provide capacitive sensing of heart rate in a more comfortable configuration than existing products. Sensing and RF electronics are contained in a rigid plastic module that is attached to the garment using conductive snaps. The NuMetrex heart monitoring garment represents a midpoint in the evolution from Wearable Electronics to Smart Fabrics Smart Fabric elements (capacitive sensing fabric) are beginning to replace traditional hard electronic components.
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Fig 5.2 Numetrex biological garment

Cute Circuit Galaxy Dress:- The Cute Circuit Galaxy Dress was made as a proof of concept for the fashion possibilities of integrating electronic components into textiles. The dress includes 24,000 surface-mounts multi-color LEDs integrated into layers of silk; the LEDs display animated patterns on the dress. Though the Galaxy Dress was never worn by a person, the company has made smaller scale illuminated clothing for celebrities and fashion events.

Fig 5.3 cute circuit galaxy dress

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

The Peregrine glove:- The Peregrine glove uses swatches of conductive fabric and strings of resistive elements (coiled steel wire) to provide up to 18 programmable button locations on the glove surface for user input into a computer. The glove is a good illustration of the complexity of mass manufacturing smart fabrics the fabric used to create a glove must be cut into complex patterns, so a traditional fabric glove is created first, then smart fabric elements (the conductive patches and integrated wiring) are added on by hand.

Fig 5.4 Peregrine glove

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Smart Life Health Vest:- Smart Life Health Vest is designed for physiological monitoring in healthcare, sport, military, and hazardous environments. The shirt uses Smart Fabric technology for sensing (ECG, respiratory data, heart rate, and skin temperature) as well as electrical interconnects. Like the NuMetrex garments, electronic components are housed in removable modules.

Fig 5.5 smart life health vest

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ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-6 PLATFORM IMPLEMENTATION

Fig 6.1 Platform architecture Additionally, the technology seems to hold the greatest promise for medical monitoring. However, the "Smart Shirt" at this stage of development only detects and alerts medical professionals of irregularities in patients' vital statistics or emergency situations. It does not yet respond to dangerous health conditions. Therefore, it will not be helpful to patients if they do face complications after surgery and they are far away from medical care, since the technology cannot yet fix or address these problems independently, without the presence of a physician. Future research in this area of responsiveness is ongoing. As is the case for any monitoring system, the privacy of the wearer could be compromised. For example, a GTWM that is outfitted with a microphone or GPS may compromise the wearer's privacy. Additionally, the data that is transferred by the "Smart Shirt" could be used for purposes other than the intended, and could be viewed by unauthorized people. Databases about individuals could also be linked to provide more information than is necessary for this application. All of these possibilities could compromise the privacy of the individual.
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Figures of one of the Smart fabrics called Smart shirt:-

Fig 6.2 smart shirt

Fig 6.3 closer look of smart shirt fabric

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-7 APPLICATIONS
1)Temperature Sensitive Fabrics:- From protecting body from harsh temperature to
start thinking for the wearer, This can not only keep the wearer warm or cool but also dry, moisturized, free from bacteria, allergy, odor and stains and at the same time monitor the heart rate, blood count and oxygen. Not only protecting human body against heat and cold, the fabrics are now accepting the role of regulating body temperature. These heat modifying textiles are mostly used to make outdoor garments such as hats, beanies, windbreakers and jackets. There are many techniques for making such clothes, one of which is- treating the fabric with paraffins. As the body gets hot, the paraffins become more liquid to let the heat pass out and as the body gets cold, it solidifies so that it keeps back the heat with the wearer. Some other fabrics that are wired up, conduct electricity for monitoring body temperature. At the same time, the inbuilt mp3 player can entertain the wearer! The amazing part is that, when made from conductive yarn, they are machine washable, wear and feel like any conventional clothing. They are the first generation smart fabrics, and guess what, the second generation smart fabrics will be treated with Inherently Conductive Polymers (ICP) allowing the fabric to transmit energy to heat and cool the body.

Fig 7.1 Temperature fabric

2)Health Monitoring Fabrics:- The most prevalent among these health smart fabrics
are the microencapsulated fabrics, especially in the natural health sector. The clothings enriched with substances like vitamins, algae or nutrients along with other substances to delay ageing or for improving blood circulation or other such benefits are fast becoming popular with the masses. Medically beneficial electrically conductive smart fabrics are no far
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ECE DEPT

behind. These life vests can track heart rate, ECG and body temperature. Now the research results are claiming to have developed a smart fabric that could warn its wearer of allergens, by glowing in response. The other health-enhancing electronic clothings include falldetecting smart shirt that uses a built-in motion-detection hardware to detect if the user has fallen and can't get up. Really useful for older people! Then there is underwear having sensors woven into the fabric to detect heart rate. Some of them can even dial emergency number if they detect a problem. Now, that's called a real smart fabric.

Fig 7.2 Health monitoring fabric

3) Emergency Fabrics:- Although the health monitoring fabrics are in a way emergency
fabrics only, yet certain other developments in the field of smart fabrics are in the pipeline that can really be called Disaster wear! A system is being developed to monitor the wearer and the outside environment which can be helpful for rescue workers like fire fighters. Some projects are aiming at stretchable electronics by developing conducting substrates within the very weave of fabric, which will allow sensors to move with the body. Many researches are aimed at using optical fibers because of their potential flexibility and their capacity to use light both as an information carrier and a sensor in itself. It can find applications in oximetry a smart non-invasive way to measure the oxygen content of blood. Some projects are targeting at developing sensors which can measure body fluids like sweat, too, which will be

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very useful in sport wears. It will be able to measure the conductivity, electrolyte level, temperature and pH of the users' sweat, all very useful indicators for sporting applications.

Fig 7.3 Emergency fabric

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Further applications of smart fabrics Injury Prevention:- Textile sensors, such as the Intelligent Knee Sleeve, can be
used to teach people the correct way to perform movement skills to reduce their risk of injury.

Performance Enhancement:- Technique is often the key to success in most

sporting pursuits. Textile sensors can be used to enhance performance and increase efficiency of motion by assisting people to learn the optimal way to perform skills involving precise limb orientation. Rehabilitation:- The primary goals of rehabilitation following injury or surgery are to regain full joint range of motion and to recover muscle strength and neuromuscular control. Textile sensors can be incorporated into wearable sensing systems to assist patients to learn how to move their joints through a desirable range of motion throughout typical rehabilitation exercises to improve the rate of recovery.

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ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-8 ADVANTAGES
Light sensitive fabric has been designed using special photo chromic designs which react to sunlight resulting in temporary colour change. It includes children's wear to alert over-exposure to ultraviolet rays, novelty wear and military uniform. It is lightweight and portable.

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SMART FABRICS

ECE DEPT

CHAPTER-9 FUTURE SCOPE

The integration part of the technologies into a real SFIT product is at present stage on the threshold of developing pilot projects. Several issues, technical as well user-centered, Societal and business, remain to be solved. The current market size smart fabrics and interactive textiles (SFIT) is relatively modest; however the future outlook is extremely strong. The main barriers for reaching a higher market with high added value products and diversified application fields are: Textile and clothing industries are not sufficiently engaged Core modules/technologies e.g. interface, connectivity, sensing, skin contact, transmission, manufacturing and usability are not sufficiently developed, neither tested nor certified Research community is fragmented. There is definitely a need for international standards and regulation; need for common certified laboratory, certification issue for smart textile/fabric and for the final prototype/device for a given application; common certified validation protocol, quality control during production. At the same time further effort should be devoted to SFIT core modules e.g. System design, interfacing, connectivity, multiparametric sensing (from motion, to human physiological and biochemical parameters and to environmental and context awareness), skin contact and energy and data transmission. Specific outstanding issues are: Lack of fibers designed specifically for e-textile Packaging/Cabling e.g. Fabric connectionElastic cables compatible with e-TextileHybrid solutions from textile to hard sensors; needs of textile performance of embedded, hard electronics components Lack of textile connectors (from textile to electronics) Lack of people with interdisciplinary background Lack of driving industrial actors able to manage multidisciplinary productive sectors.

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Other issues such as data management (Security, privacy encryption), data transfer, extrapolation of parameters and statistical analysis need further research and optimization. Finally the use of neural networks for event prediction and consequent generation of alert signals as well as the need for predictive cognitive model is recognized as essential for delivering an integrated communication wearable system. Additional knowledge on biophysical issues such as biophysical expertise on skin-sensor interaction models, electrochemical aspects and skin physical-chemical properties (age, gender, race, etc.) is also required. Microsystems could significantly contribute to further enhancement of the development of SFIT systems through R&D of smart & functional systems that can be embedded in or fully transformed into textile structures. Examples: Integration of regular electronics into textiles, including interconnect and robust attachment (important route to commercialize available intelligent textiles). Integration of fibred devices (e.g. piezoelectric fibers, transistors on yarns) into textile and fabric, to drive a transition between present purely passive components to integrated passive/active components and systems.

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CHAPTER-10 CONCLUSION
Smart Fabric technologies are rapidly evolving from toys and stylistic elements into real, useful components that can change the way we interact with our environment. As collection of and access to data becomes more and more critical in space missions, Smart Fabric technologies can enable previously impossible capabilities. From ubiquitous sensing of spacecraft and crew members to considerable mass and volume savings, the technology has the capability to reshape the design of space missions.

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CHAPTER-11 REFERENCES
[1] Paulson, L. D., Researchers Develop Lightweight Paper Batteries, IEEE Computer Magazine, vol. 43, No. 7, pp. 17 19, Jul. 2010. [2] http://www.clevertex.net/Objectives.html [3] http://www.systex.org/projects and http://www.proetex.org/related_projects.htm [4] http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2010/05/biosensors_in_briefs.asp [5] http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/acoustic-fibers-0712.html [6] Grazioso, D., Ferl, J., Splawn, K., Akin, D., Tie, E., Kosmo, J., and Ross, A., "Human and robotic enabling performance system development and testing," SAE Transactions, 2005. [7] http://sbir.nasa.gov/SBIR/abstracts/09-1.html [8] http://www.technopark-allianz.ch/pdf/20090303_CSEM_ScienceFiction.pdf [9] http://www.ohmatex.dk/nyheder.php?sprog=engelsk&news_id=13 [10] Lymberis, A., Paradiso, R., Smart Fabrics and Interactive Textile E nabling Wearable Personal Applications: R&D State of the Art and Future Challenges, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2008. EMBS 2008. 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, pp 5270 5273, Oct. 2008. [11]http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayArticleForFree.cfm?doi=b926339j& JournalCode=AN [12] http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17220/

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