Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 Fera A' Design Award in Produkta Inĝenierado kaj Teknika Dezajno Competition Category.
FeroInĝenierado· 2024
Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro
by Leijing Zhou
Client: Zhejiang University
Fera A' Design Award Winner in Inĝenierado Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #159003The Design
About Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro
Openwear estas ilaro por konstrui portindajn elektronikajn prototipojn rapide. La ilaro inkluzivas modifitan Lilypad USB-programan platon, dek unu nove desegnitajn modulojn kaj rapidajn konektajn kablojn. Ĉiu modulo portas enigan aŭ eligan blokon (ĉipon) kaj ses pinglojn de 3 mm diametro. Magnetoj de 10 mm diametro estas fiksitaj al la malantaŭo de la platoj, tiel ke la partoj alkroĉiĝas al vestaĵoj per magnetaj kusenetoj anstataŭ kudrado. O-konektiloj kaj boltoj kunigas la pinglojn. Prototipoj povas esti konstruitaj, testitaj kaj rearanĝitaj rekte sur ŝtofo.
The Recognition
About the Fera A' Design Award
Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro estas gajninto de la Fera A' Design Award, prestiĝa rekono donata al bonaj dezajnoj, kiuj plenumas la profesiajn kaj industriajn postulojn atendatajn de bone dezajnitaj kreaĵoj. La Feraj gajnintoj montras grandan lertecon, altan specialiĝon, spertan komprenon kaj kreivan kapablon de siaj kreintoj. Oni atendas, ke Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro estu tre estimata, admirata kaj ŝatata kreaĵo, kiu estas praktika kaj nova. Ĉi tiu dezajno gajninta la Feran A' Design Award integras plej bonajn industriajn praktikojn kaj havas kompetentajn teknikajn karakterizojn ligitajn kun scipovo kaj talento. Openwear Portebla Prototipara Ilaro estas respektata pro sia zorgemo kaj estas dezajnita por provizi plibonigojn de la vivokvalito, kiuj helpas fari la mondon pli bona loko.
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
Sponsored
Explore Beyond Designers.org
Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.
More to Explore
Related Designs
Explore more award-winning designs from the same category, selected by merit.
