Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷 by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award 철상 in 제품 엔지니어링 및 기술 디자인 Competition Category.

철엔지니어링· 2024

Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷

by Leijing Zhou

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award 철상 Winner in 엔지니어링 Category

53,077
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #159003

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷

Openwear는 웨어러블 전자 프로토타입을 빠르게 제작할 수 있는 툴킷이다. 이 툴킷은 개조된 Lilypad USB 개발 보드, 새롭게 설계된 11개의 모듈, 그리고 빠른 연결이 가능한 케이블로 구성된다. 각 모듈에는 입력 또는 출력 칩과 지름 3mm의 핀 6개가 탑재되어 있다. 보드 뒷면에는 지름 10mm의 자석이 고정되어 있어, 바느질 대신 자석 패드를 통해 부품을 옷에 부착할 수 있다. O형 커넥터와 볼트가 핀을 연결한다. 프로토타입은 원단 위에서 직접 제작하고 테스트하며 재배치할 수 있다.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 철상

Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 철상 수상작으로, 잘 디자인된 창작물에 기대되는 전문적·산업적 요건을 충족하는 좋은 디자인에 수여되는 권위 있는 인정입니다. 철상 수상작은 창작자의 뛰어난 기술, 높은 전문성, 전문가다운 이해, 창의적 역량을 보여 줍니다. Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 창작물로서 실용적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 철상 수상 디자인은 업계 모범 사례를 통합하며 노하우와 재능으로 연결된 유능한 기술적 특성을 갖추고 있습니다. Openwear 웨어러블 프로토타이핑 툴킷, 이 작품은 철저함으로 존중받으며 삶의 질을 개선하여 세상을 더 나은 곳으로 만들도록 디자인되었습니다.

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