Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje by Leijing Zhou

Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje by Leijing Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 Železna nagrada A' Design Award in Inženiring izdelkov in tehnično oblikovanje Competition Category.

ŽeleznaInženiring· 2024

Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje

by Leijing Zhou

Client: Zhejiang University

Železna nagrada A' Design Award Winner in Inženiring Category

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Verified Award Winner
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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje

Book Text: Openwear je komplet za hitro izdelavo prototipov nosljive elektronike. Komplet vključuje prilagojeno razvojno ploščo Lilypad USB, enajst na novo zasnovanih modulov in kable za hitro povezovanje. Vsak modul nosi vhodni ali izhodni čip in šest nožic premera 3 mm. Magneti premera 10 mm so pritrjeni na zadnjo stran plošč, tako da se deli na oblačila pritrdijo preko magnetnih blazinic namesto šivanja. O-konektorji in vijaki povezujejo nožice. Prototipe je mogoče graditi, testirati in preurejati neposredno na tkanini.

The Recognition

About the Železna nagrada A' Design Award

Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje je prejemnik Železne nagrade A' Design Award, prestižnega priznanja, ki se podeljuje dobrim oblikovanjem, ki izpolnjujejo profesionalne in industrijske zahteve, pričakovane od dobro zasnovanih stvaritev. Prejemniki Železne nagrade kažejo veliko spretnost, visoko specializacijo, strokovno razumevanje in ustvarjalne zmožnosti svojih ustvarjalcev. Od Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje se pričakuje, da bo visoko cenjena, občudovana in ljubljena stvaritev, ki je praktična in inovativna. To oblikovanje, nagrajeno z Železno nagrado A' Design Award, vključuje najboljše prakse panoge in ima kompetentne tehnične lastnosti, povezane s strokovnim znanjem in talentom. Zaradi svoje temeljitosti si Openwear Nosljivi Komplet za Prototipiranje zasluži spoštovanje in je zasnovan tako, da zagotavlja izboljšave kakovosti življenja, ki pomagajo narediti svet boljši kraj.

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