Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset by Leijing Zhou

Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award yn Izer in Produktyngenieurswêzen en Technysk Ûntwerp Competition Category.

IzerYngenieurswêzen· 2024

Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset

by Leijing Zhou

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award yn Izer Winner in Yngenieurswêzen 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 Draachbere Prototypearingsset

Openwear is in ark foar it fluch bouwen fan draachbere elektroanyske prototypen. De set befettet in oanpaste Lilypad USB-ûntwikkelboerd, alve nij ûntwurpen modules en fluggewei-oanslutkabels. Elke module hat in yngong- of útgongschip en seis pinnen mei in trochsneed fan 3 mm. Magneten mei in trochsneed fan 10 mm binne oan de efterkant fan de boerden befêstige, sadat de ûnderdielen har fêsthechtsje oan klean troch magnetyske kessens ynstee fan naaien. O-ferbiners en bouten ferbine de pinnen. Prototypen kinne direkt op stof boud, testen en op 'e nij regele wurde.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award yn Izer

Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset is in winner fan de A' Design Award yn Izer, in prestisjeuze erkenning foar goede ûntwerpen dy't foldogge oan de profesjonele en yndustriële easken dy't ferwachte wurde fan goed ûntwurpen skeppings. Izerwinners litte grutte feardigens, hege spesjalisaasje, deskundich begryp en kreatyf fermogen fan har makkers sjen. Fan Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset wurdt ferwachte dat it in tige heech achte, bewûndere en dierbere skepping is dy't praktysk en ynnovatyf is. Dit winnende ûntwerp fan de A' Design Award yn Izer yntegrearret de bêste praktiken fan de sektor en hat feardige technyske skaaimerken ferbûn mei kennis en talint. Openwear Draachbere Prototypearingsset wurdt respektearre foar syn yngeandens en is ûntwurpen om ferbetteringen fan de kwaliteit fan it libben te leverjen dy't helpe de wrâld ta in bettere plak te meitsjen.

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