Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ by Leijing Zhou

Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Igwe in Injinịa Ngwaahịa na Nhazi Teknịkal Competition Category.

IgweInjinịa· 2024

Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ

by Leijing Zhou

Client: Zhejiang University

Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Igwe Winner in Injinịa Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ

Openwear bụ ngwa nrụpụta e ji arụ ihe eyi na ahụ nke eletriki ngwa ngwa. Ngwa a gụnyere bọọdụ mmepe Lilypad USB e mezigharịrị, modul iri na otu e ji akaghị echiche hazie, na eriri njikọ ngwa ngwa. Modul ọ bụla nwere chip mbata ma ọ bụ mputa yana pin isii nke sentimita 0.3 obosara ha. E jikwara magnet nke sentimita 1 obosara ha na azụ bọọdụ ndị a, ka akụkụ ihe eyi ndị a na-arapara n'uwe site na mpempe magnetik kama iji akwa akwa ha. Njikọ O na bolt na-ejikọta pin ndị ahụ. A pụrụ iwube, nwalee, ma degharịakwa ihe nrụpụta ozugbo n'elu akwa.

The Recognition

About the Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Igwe

Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ meriri A' Design Award nke Igwe, nnabata dị ugwu e nyere design ndị dị mma nke na-emezu ihe ndị a chọrọ n'ọrụ na ụlọ ọrụ nke a na-atụ anya n'ihe e kere eke ndị e mere nke ọma. Ndị meriri na Igwe na-egosi nka buru ibu, ọkachamara dị elu, nghọta ọkachamara na ikike imepụta nke ndị kere ha. A na-atụ anya na Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ ga-abụ ihe e kere eke a na-asọpụrụ nke ukwuu, a na-eto na a hụrụ n'anya nke bụ ihe bara uru ma dị ọhụrụ. Design a meriri A' Design Award nke Igwe na-ejikọta ụzọ kacha mma nke ụlọ ọrụ ma nwee àgwà teknụzụ kwesịrị ekwesị jikọtara na ihe ọmụma na talent. A na-asọpụrụ Openwear Ngwa Nrụpụta Ihe Eyi Na Ahụ maka nlezianya ya ma e mere ya ka ọ nye mmeziwanye ndụ nke na-enyere aka ime ka ụwa bụrụ ebe ka mma.

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