Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy by Leijing Zhou

Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award in Peirianneg Competition Category.

HaearnPeirianneg· 2024

Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy

by Leijing Zhou

Client: Zhejiang University

Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award Winner in Peirianneg Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #159003

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy

Mae Openwear yn becyn ar gyfer adeiladu prototeipiau electronig gwisgadwy yn gyflym. Mae'r pecyn yn cynnwys bwrdd datblygu Lilypad USB wedi'i addasu, un ar ddeg o fodiwlau newydd eu dylunio a chebl cysylltu cyflym. Mae gan bob modiwl sglodyn mewnbwn neu allbwn a chwe phin o ddiamedr 3 mm. Mae magnetau o ddiamedr 10 mm wedi'u sicrhau i gefn y byrddau, fel bod y darnau'n glynu wrth ddillad drwy badiau magnetig yn hytrach na thrwy wnïo. Mae cysylltyddion-O a bolltau'n cydio'r pinnau ynghyd. Gellir adeiladu, profi ac aildrefnu prototeipiau'n uniongyrchol ar ffabrig.

The Recognition

About the Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award

Mae Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy yn enillydd Gwobr Haearn A' Design Award, cydnabyddiaeth fawreddog a roddir i ddyluniadau da sydd yn bodloni'r gofynion proffesiynol a diwydiannol a ddisgwylir gan greadigaethau wedi'u dylunio'n dda. Mae enillwyr Haearn yn dangos medrusrwydd mawr, arbenigedd uchel, dealltwriaeth arbenigol a gallu creadigol eu crewyr. Disgwylir i Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy fod yn greadigaeth uchel ei bri, a edmygir ac a anwylir, sydd yn ymarferol ac yn arloesol. Mae'r dyluniad buddugol hwn o Wobr Haearn A' Design Award yn integreiddio arferion gorau'r diwydiant ac mae ganddo nodweddion technegol cymwys wedi'u cysylltu â gwybodaeth ymarferol a dawn. Parchir Openwear Pecyn Prototeipio Gwisgadwy am ei drylwyredd ac fe'i dyluniwyd i ddarparu gwelliannau ansawdd bywyd sydd yn helpu i wneud y byd yn lle gwell.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Openwear is a toolkit for building rapid wearable prototypes. It includes a modified Lilypad USB development board, 11 newly designed modules, and quick connecting cables. This kit facilitates rapid prototyping by enabling quick attachment and connection and allows users to directly build and test prototypes on the intended substrate like clothes.
Dimensions & Packaging: Development board size is ϕ50*1mm, module size is ϕ25*1mm.
Tags: Hardware, Electronic, Toolkit, Wearable, E-textile
Production Technology: For the modules, we have designed 11 different modules with input or output chips contained on each module. Each module has six 3mm diameter pins. For quick fixing, we fixed a 10mm diameter magnet on the bottom of the development board and modules, which works with the magnetic fixing pads to attach to clothes. For quick connects, we used O-connectors and bolts, which work well with the 3mm pin sizes on the PCB.
Design Challenge: The biggest challenge in the whole research was to achieve a rapid fixing and connection of the PCB. We tried a variety of methods including pins, buttons, velcro, and finally we chose to use magnets with O-connectors, which had not been used before.
Research: The success of the LilyPad has resulted in the creation of various development boards, such as the more compact TinyLily and the Circuit Playground with many sensors. However, these variations only modify the dimensions or integrate sensors, without modifying the Lilypad's method for constructing wearable circuits. This method presents a challenge in prototyping wearable circuits: sewing processes are time-consuming and set a high threshold for beginners. Furthermore, the troubleshooting process in wearable circuit prototyping often requires resetting and resewing. Once the development board is integrated into the fabric, the complexity of the debugging code also increases proportionally.
Inspiration: Common wearable circuits often need to be fixed using sewing, which is very cumbersome. To solve this problem, we took inspiration from magnetic buttons. We have embedded magnets in the back of the PCB to fix it using magnetic force.
Project Duration: The project started in August 2023 in Ningbo and finished in January 2024
Operation Flow: 1. Building the First Circuit Prototype: Select modules based on design requirements and assemble them on a flat surface for initial circuit testing and debugging. 2. Continuous Testing and Adjustment of the Circuit: Reconfigure module positions on the body for testing purposes. 3. Building the Final Circuit: Sew components directly onto fabric using conductive yarn or utilize sewing magnet fixing pads as an alternative method. This ensures flexibility and ease of removal.
Team Members: Leijing Zhou
Xin An
Yiqing Zhang
Yang Mao