Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキット by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award 鉄賞 in プロダクトエンジニアリング・テクニカルデザイン Competition Category.
鉄エンジニアリング· 2024
Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキット
by Leijing Zhou
Client: Zhejiang University
A' Design Award 鉄賞 Winner in エンジニアリング Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #159003The Design
About Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキット
Openwearは、ウェアラブル電子プロトタイプを素早く製作するためのツールキットです。本ツールキットには、改良を加えたLilypad USB開発ボード、新たに設計された11種類のモジュール、そしてクイックコネクトケーブルが含まれています。各モジュールには入力または出力用のチップと、直径3mmのピン6本が搭載されています。基板の裏面には直径10mmのマグネットが固定されており、縫い付けることなくマグネットパッドによって衣服に取り付けられます。ピン同士はO型コネクタとボルトで接続します。プロトタイプは布地の上で直接、製作・テスト・再構成することができます。
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award 鉄賞
Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキットは、よく設計された創造物に期待される専門的・産業的要件を満たす優れたデザインに授与される、権威ある評価である A' Design Award 鉄賞の受賞作品です。鉄賞の受賞作品は、制作者の高い技量、高度な専門性、専門家としての理解、創造的な能力を示しています。Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキットは、高く評価され、称賛され、愛される、実用的で革新的な創造物であることが期待されます。この A' Design Award 鉄賞を受賞したデザインは、業界のベストプラクティスを統合し、ノウハウと才能に結びついた有能な技術的特性を備えています。Openwear ウェアラブル・プロトタイピング・ツールキットは、その徹底ぶりで尊敬され、世界をより良い場所にするための生活の質の向上をもたらすよう設計されています。
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
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