Hacking things open and sew them back together is about the customization of mass-produced electronics. The aim is to combine global products with regional materials and traditional textile crafts to produce new devices that are unlike anything you can buy in the store. These new devices are not only soft and unusual, they also cater to the electronic desires of a local community.

Electronics are something we’ve all come to rely on, but surprisingly few of us feel comfortable fixing, modifying or customizing the devices we use on a daily basis. This project aims to show how reverse engineering is simpler that you might think, and building electronics yourself can be way more interesting than you ever imagined. This project is an initiative in the form of a hacklab in which devices are invented and built, then documented and turned into kits for others to remake them.The aim is to encourage more of us to pry open commercial electronic devices, and sew them back together into something more personal.

Before arriving in Seoul we will be in contact with people at APAPL to begin collecting people’s electronic desires. Upon arrival in Seoul we will set up the Hacking Open and Sewing Together Lab, and meet with local artists, crafters and hackers in order to recruit a lab crew. In preparation for the lab we will run an eTextile skill-share in which the crew will be introduced to the range of materials and techniques that can be used to handcraft textile electronics, such as the work featured on our website titled How To Get What You Want.

Within the lab (that will last 4 days) the aim is to translate the collected electronic fantasies into devices that function, and to document the process so that later these hacks can be turned into kits. In order to build these new devices we will appropriate existing devices, hack them open and remake them into soft, textile, wearable handmade electronics. Where necessary we will use Arduino to program new behaviors. Participating artists/crafters and hackers are encouraged to draw upon their own technique and incorporate their mediums alongside the eTextile aspect.

The hacking open and sewing together lab will not open to the public to participate, but can be kept open to the public, possibly as a performance, or simply allowing the public to observe, ask questions and have the opportunity to submit their electronic desires to the pool.

The results of this lab will be a series of devices inspired by people’s fantasies. These will be presented to the public and documented and made into kits so that others can re-make them themselves. The instructions and kits developed during the hack event can be used to teach workshops in which participants learn the various steps of taking something apart, reverse engineering, programming, circuit design and eTextiles.

All work produced in the scope of this project (including code, circuits and designs) will be released under a creative commons license such that they can be replicated and modified by anybody.

PCB Assembly

Front and Back:

Technical

Datasheet >> http://www.atmel.com/images/doc8059.pdf

1) Clone DIY Cellphone Repositories:
Software (Arduino code and libraries) >> https://github.com/damellis/cellphone2
(run “git submodule update –init” from the terminal in the cellphone2 directory to get github to clone the sub-modules too)
Hardware (Eagle and Illustrator files) >> https://github.com/damellis/cellphone2hw

Additional libraries to download and save in Arduino libraries folder (not necessary, see above):
GSM stuff (save in GSM Extras folder) >> https://github.com/BlueVia/Official-Arduino
MemoryFree.h (save in GSM Extras folder) >> https://github.com/ninjablocks/arduino-ninja-blocks/blob/master/3rdPartyLibs/MemoryFree/MemoryFree.h
Adafruit-PCD8544 >> https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-PCD8544-Nokia-5110-LCD-library
Adafruit-GFX >> https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-GFX-Library

2) Set the sketchbook folder (in the preferences dialog) to the cellphone2 directory. Then it should pick up the needed libraries and (Sanguino) hardware folder.

3) Use the “DIY Cellphone” board menu option.

4) Burn the bootloader using USBtiny does not work. Also could not get it to work with an avrdragon. MKII worked.

5) Upload the “cellphone” sketch. Make sure you have most recent version of arduino installed with GSM stuff. Trying to upload with 3.3V FTDI programmer did not work until we also added battery power supply.

6) Insert sim card. Power with battery. Screen says “connecting…” and nothing happened. Tried turning off sim lock on sim card from regular phone. Still nothing. Screen background starts off bright and grows increasingly darker.

Here is the movie of “it works!” (until the “connecting…” point)

Programming with AVRDragon

add following lines to programmers.txt file:
avrdragon.name=AVR Dragon ISP
avrdragon.communication=usb
avrdragon.protocol=dragon_isp
#avrdragon.speed=57600

Conceptual

Evan Roth “Free Speech”:
>> http://vimeo.com/50162010

Making-of Photos on Flickr:

Looking at origami fashion for folding wearable cell-phone collar:

mauricio-velasquez-posada
>> http://www.body-pixel.com/2010/05/02/geomorfos-by-mauricio-velasquez-posada-gallery/

veasyble
>> http://www.veasyble.com/image16.html

Tara Keens-Douglas
>> http://tkd.slackerzgroup.com/index.htm

kirstie-maclaren
>> http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&ved=0CFsQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkirstiemaclaren.tumblr.com%2F&ei=d-d3UYTsLIratAbql4FA&usg=AFQjCNEh3OL993aBs_6YUP9Hd2tgvdsmGg&sig2=2eGDyF2WA2keMOnb6qgfBw&bvm=bv.45580626,d.Yms

Here is the first version design. This version was made in rather a quick way at the Swedish school of textiles. The stretch sensor was knit with double bed hand knitting machine with Bekinox 50/2 (2 yarn) + elastane (stretchy yarn). The knitting pattern is a simple 1X1 rib.

The control unit (Lilypad + Xbee + battery) is placed on the back of the pants in a small detachable pocket.

The sensors on the shirt is connected to the pants via poppers placed around the waist.

The pants’ pattern is based on a pants I have and modified. The shirt pattern is from a book called “Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics” by Tomoko Nakamichi.

We did a quick rehearsal in November with Magdalena and Richard at their studio in Goteborg Sweden. Here is the footage from the rehearsal.

The Trapper has 4 knitted stretch sensor embedded, on the elbow part and the back of the knees. In this rehearsal, the sensor calibration (size of the pull-up register) is not well done. You can see Magdalena is having hard time controlling the samples. Also, I am not super sure if this interaction (bending knees/ elbow) is the best choice for their performance. This needs to be further explored.

So, I made some changes. One of the reasons for the arm stretch sensor to be not sensitive was because the knit was double layered (It is too conductive for a sensor in this way). So, I made it into single layer and used t-shirt material for the back. The pull-up registers are replaced to the suitable size now.

I also wanted to replace the Lilypad on the control unit to Lilypad simple, because I use only 4 Analog input, and on simple, there are onboard lipo plug and switch.

But, after I completed the alteration, I noticed the Xbee is not working.. why?!
After some google search, I realized the “NOTE” on the very bottom of the Sparkfun page.. it says “Note: Because of the added battery charging circuitry the Simple is unable to power a device from the FTDI header meaning that the Bluetooth Mate, for instance, is no longer plug’n'play compatible.”
.. So, I sew back the normal lilypad and added extra switch on the cable connection between the battery and the lilypad. Now everything works fine.

Here is the switch!

The pull-up resistors are placed on the back of the base fabric (neoprene) of the control unit

With these modifications, it works much better now.
Here is how it looks, and the footage from the trial with a simple max patch (it play out different frequency)

While the first version is gone to Mag and Richard for testing, I have already started to work on the second version. There were few of the things to change from the first version:
- Try different kind of interaction rather than bending elbows or knees
- The design of the shirt needs to change. It looks too tight

So, I started this new shirt now. The pattern comes from Pattern Magic 2. (It is really a great book!)

In this trial, I am using a conductive knit I made at the Swedish School of Textiles. It is made out of bekinox 50/2 and elastarn with industrial circular knitting machine. The gray stripe is the conductive yarn and the white is just elastane. It is very stretchy, and it contracts very well when it is not stretched. The gray stripes are electrically not connected. To connect them, I added stitches with conductive thread running vertical (against stripes).

In this pattern, under the arm is a separate patch. I am replacing this piece with conductive knit mentioned above.

I made some adjustments (shorter sleeves, stretch end on the waist part of the shirt to stay down) and now adding conductive traces to it for the connections.

And here is the outcome. The popper connectors are not placed yet. It will be ready for use when I place poppers

This was made with Toile fabric. I will make the real version with these fabric. (what do you think Mag?)

Heinrich-Roller-Straße 8
10405 Berlin

Map:

Photos:

For more information about the research project Involving the Machines, please visit the Making-of documentation page. For more information about how these fabrics were woven, please visit the Weaving Conductive Fabric page

Involving the Machines Collection

Button fabric

The circular part of this fabric is woven as double layers. It works as a small pocket with conductive material on both side. When spacer or resistive material is inserted in the pocket, it works as a button or as a pressure sensor.

Resistive Veresion

revised version
Instead of inserting resistive material in the pocket afterwords, the revised version inserts conductive yarn (80nm from plug and wear) in the weaving process. The conductive yarn stays as float thread at the non button part and gets inserted between the two layers of button pocket part as float in the middle.

You need to cut the float thread after getting out the woven fabric, but it works pretty much as ready made button fabric out of weaving machine.

Tilt Sensor Fabric

Four petals around the orange circle is woven with conductive thread. When center metal bead hanging touches to one of the petal, it makes electrical connection, indicating the tilting angle of the fabric. As you can see in the back side of the fabric, conductive thread is bind with big float allowing us to pull out and use it as connection to the metal bead in the front side.

Jacquard Pattern Conductive Fabric

The outcome fabrics are woven with conductive, resistive and non-conductive (cotton) thread. Both conductive and resistive threads are woven with float on the back so that one can cut the weft connection on the back. Each pattern on the front side of the fabric can act as individual conductive, resistive and non-conductive surface, which can be used as sensor, circuit.. so on.

Cutting the floating conductive threads on the reverse side of the fabric to create separated areas of conductivity and resistance.

The main outcome of this fabric is the below weaving binding palette. By applying these binding according to the electrical characteristic you plan, one can create their own patterned conductive fabric.

Revised Version
The first version had a problem of producing huge amount of waste due to cutting off the float thread and not having a good contact in the warp direction threads. The revised version used only one kind of conductive thread in time (so the weft system uses 2 weft thread at a time, one normal thread and one conductive thread), and instead of 8 shaft satin, it is based on 12 shaft satin to achieve better connection on the warp direction.

Building Block Conductive Fabric

This fabric has long conductive thread float on both side allowing user to cut desired parts to create quick sketching of fabric circuit.

Graphical Conductive Thread

Gray scale graphical image can be converted into 7 different gradients of satin binding to achieve the photo-like textiles. We applied this technique on conductive fabric by using conductive thread (silver plated copper thread) on weft.

Waffle Sensor

Waffle binding makes the textile in 3 dimensional structure. We used this binding with resistive yarn (Bekinox 50/2). The outcome fabric reacts to pressure and stretch making a very interesting tactile sensor.

Handwoven Fabrics

X/Y Intersection Fabric

Tea-Towel Conductive Fabric

Textured Conductive and Resistive Areas

Plain Resistive Fabric

Striped Conductive Fabric

Stroke Sensitive Fabric

Mixed

Semi-automated collaborations between man and machine. Because so much of our work as KOBAKANT has focused on handcraft techniques involving readily available hand tools, this series of E-Textiles designs will be made explicitly involving mechanized equipment and semi-automated processes without discounting the skill of human involvement.

Involving Machines in the Process of Handcrafting Textiles Sensors

The objective of this project is to explore the combination of semi-automated machinery and handcraft processes for the production of electronic textiles. Whereas industry often looks to automate processes and eliminate human involvement, we are interested in developing production processes that rely heavily on human intervention and skill, while taking advantage of automation. We believe that such hybrid creative processes will allow us to produce more unique and diverse results. During our collaboration in Sweden we will meet with faculty and students from the Smart Textiles lab at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. We will have access to the school’s extensive textile production facilities, which include a variety of semi-automated flatbed and circular knitting machines and weaving looms. While many of the processes on these machines are automated, they rely heavily on human control. This project presents us with the opportunity to access equipment and to learn from experts.

Links:

>> Smart Textiles
>> How To Get What You Want
>> Hannah’s Flickr set
>> Mika’s Flickr set
>> Hannah’s YouTube playlist
>> Mika’s STL documentation
>> Handweaving patterns

People Involved

Linda Worbin, Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson.

Special Thanks to Hanna Lindholm (Hand Loom) and Fredrik Wennersten (Industrial Jacquard Loom), the weaving lab technicians at the Swedish School of Textiles!

Day 1

Despite all the different textile machinery at the Textile University in Boras, We have decided to focus our attention on weaving machines. Mika and Hannah are both new to working with weaving, and Linda is a skilled weaver who also has some experience with running conductive materials through the loom. Through brainstorming and discussion we decided that instead of focusing on replicating our previous hand-made sensor designs using semi-automated machinery, we would start at a more fundamental and aesthetic level. We want to try and design “beautiful” woven textiles that have interesting electrical properties such as conductivity, resistance and capacitance. This design-challenge will involve finding ways to isolate different conductive areas as well as make good connections between them.

Hand Weaving Loom

Experiments on hand and semi-automated weaving looms.

Yarn depot – so many different types, plys (numbers of twisted threads) and colours. To weave the yarn one first has to wind it onto spindle that fits in a shuttle that can pass in between the warp threads on the loom.

First trial with regular a basic weave (weft yarn weaves in between warp yarn, one up, one down) and differnt yarns (conductive, resistive, nylon, wool and cotton):

List of things to try

Traces and Connections
>> Aesthetic conductive and resistive fabrics.
>> Seperate different areas of conductivity. On different sides of fabric, across warp and weft.
>> Connect different areas of conductive across sides, warp and weft.
>> …

Sensors:
>> Stroke sensor
>> X-Y grid of conductors
>> Pressure sensor
>> Stretch sensor
>> Capacitive sensing
>> …

Day 2

Computerized and Fully Automated Jacquard Loom

While this loom is fully automated, we are looking at possibilities to manually intervene with the process either in the creation of them pattern or materials feeding into the machine, or with the resulting fabric post machine process and designing the properties of the fabric to create opportunists for such interventions.

Front and back of jacquard loom before we started weaving our patterns:

Thread selection. We wove with cotton first before we go on to use up large amounts of conductive yarn.

Sketches for a repetitive (4 x along weave) pattern using 4 colours (two of them intended to be conductive/resistive).

Translating sketches into vectorized graphics.

Final pattern is then exported as JPG and imported into weaving machine software.

Using weaving machine software with help of technician to select what weaving patterns we want to use in which coloured areas.

Video

Front and back of my pattern

Mika’s 3-colour pattern

Linda’s pattern

Full sheet

Day 3

More trials on the hand-loom. Picture of hand-loom setup.

Video of winding spindal for use in handloom:

Video of handloom:

Self-contained conductive patch achieved through hand-weaving conductive thread selectively in the upper layer and using red thread in the bottom layer.

Two conductive strips with a single wool weft separating them.

Resistive satin strip is only exposed on top layer, fully isolated on reverse side.

Creating a pocket that can then be filled with a piezo-resistive (pressure sensitive) material.

End of day 3!

Day 4

Whole day of working on the hand-loom.
When a warp thread breaks it can be fixed and temporarily held back in place with needle.

Adding additional/extra warp threads to the setup is also not that hard. I added four conductive threads to the warp, each one a different conductive thread. Stick-like weights keep the additional warp threads tense.

Gray stripes, and checkers. The darker one is a conductor, the lighter one isn’t.

Satin conductor, isolated bellow. Conductive hair/fur.

Day 5

Meeting with Linda in the morning and taking a closer look at the jacquard weaves from day 2. We examined the fabric, pulling apart the warp and weft to discover what threads were touching (interesting in terms of two conductive threads being next to each other, but electrically separated), how pockets were constructed and how the fabric got thinner or thicker based on how many threads were floating and how many threads were in use.

Linda adds another point to our list of things to try:
>> Design a textile pattern that can be modified by the user. cut floats to separate areas of conductivity, or increase resistance, or pull out single conductors.

Front:

Back:

Day 6

Back to the Jacquard Loom

Working together with Linda on the Jacquard loom. The process of going from hand-loom to using the computer involves understanding and even making your own bindings. Mika translates her computer loom designs to the industrial jacquard loom and makes adjustments based on her pattern, yarn weights and joining points of different bindings across the weft and warp.

Testing some bindings on the computerized loom before trying them on the jacquard.

Day 7 & 8

Designing patterns and playing with the software.

Day 9

Density tests of the button fabric on the jacquard loom.

Stretching the pattern to adjust for lost density of double weave structure.

Day 10

Taking our fabric off the machine

On the morning of the last day we finally got to take the fabric we had been weaving on the industrial jacquard loom off the loom and take a closer look at the fronts and backs of the different patterns we had woven over the course of two-weeks.

Presentation of Outcome

At 3:30pm on the last day of this two-week research project we organized a small informal FIKA (Swedish Tea break with sweets) presentation at The Swedish School of Textiles. We shared the outcome with design students, researchers and technicians at the school.

Results

For documentation of the final outcome of this research project please visit the following links:
Involving the Machines Collection >> http://www.kobakant.at/?p=432
Weaving conductive fabric >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=3649

The first in a series of Exquisite Electronics commissions.

This work was completed as part of a one-month quartier21 artist-in-residency during the Technosensual exhibition at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, Austria.

In 2020, the global economy is in shambles. Localized production and craftsmanship experiences it’s first major boom since it’s decline preceding the 1920′s Industrial Revolution. The electronics sector in particular is hit by a scarcity of resources, causing prices to skyrocket. Electronics, previously known for their uniformity and quantity, almost overnight become a showcase for individuality, materiality and skilled labor. This development is now commonly known as Exquisite Electronics and today we live in a world where the rich commission extravagant Haute Couture electronics reminiscent of pre-industrial eras.

In 2028, the artisans KOBAKANT were commissioned to make an Extravagant Electronic funeral gown, also known as The Crying Dress. The gown was worn by the wife of the deceased commissioner in attendance of his funeral, where the dress shed endless tears of mourning. There has been much speculation on the commissioner’s motivation for ordering the gown prior to his death, but it is widely believed that he intended for it to console his wife and accompany her mourning.

Video

video: Kristina Kiremidjian (www.evelop.at/kristina)
model: Annette Zlatarits (www.motheragency.at)
makeup: Ina Holub

Photography

photographer: Florian Wieser (www.florian-wieser.com)
model: Annette Zlatarits (www.motheragency.at)
makeup: Ina Holub

Links

>> Making-of The Crying Dress
>> Embroidery gone Electronic Workshop
>> Hannah’s Flickr set
>> Mika’s Flickr set
>> YouTube playlist

>> Project page
>> Hannah’s Flickr set
>> Mika’s Flickr set
>> YouTube playlist
>> Code repository

Summary

This “making-of” documentation shows the process of developing and making The Crying Dress during a one-month residency at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, Austria. Conception and planning of the work took place in the months prior to the residency. As did the tailoring of the dress pattern for the gown. The process of embroidering the circuitry started about half-way through and it took up most of the time. This process was tedious as well as enjoyable, and the weather in Vienna was amazing.

Making-of summary video

Materials and Tools

Materials

Karl Grimm conductive thread >> http://www.karl-grimm.com
Embroidery floss >> http://www.textil-mueller.at/
Silk fabric >> http://www.textil-mueller.at/
ATtiny85 microcontroller >>
TIP122 transistor >>
LDR >>
SMD LED white >>
850mAh lipo batteries >>
Shapelock >>
Black nail varnish >>
Magnets >> http://www.magnet-magnete.eu/ndfeb-magnete-zylinder-klein-g1-231.html

Tools

- Sewing machine
- Soldering iron(s)
- Scissors
- Pattern making paper
- Tracing paper

Final Touches

Making nice looking power jumpers to turn on the side and back circuit.

Hemming the gown.

Loading the final program on the microcontrolers already soldered to the circuitry.

We finished the dress on the very last day of our residency.

Power

Progress…

ATtiny Arduino and Timer Interrupts

code >> https://github.com/plusea/CODE/blob/master/PROJECT%20CODE/The%20Crying%20Dress/a_ATtinyTimerInterrupt_basic/a_ATtinyTimerInterrupt_basic.ino

To control the speed of the timer and when the buffer overflows we can manipulte two values. The first is the prescaler value which we set by setting the following three bits:

In the ATtiny85 datasheet see page 93, Table 12-5 for how to change the value of the prescaler.

Second, we can set the timer counter to a value between 0-254. If we set it to 0 then the buffer starts at 0 and fills all the way to 254 before overflowing and triggering the interrupt. If we set it to a value then it will start at that value instead of starting at 0, so the buffer will fill faster and overflow quicker. Here is a calculation for all that:

Embroidery

Some of the embroidery techniques we’ve looked at in the course of learning different embroidery stitches and using them to embroidery both the circuitry from conductive threads as well as decorative elements.

Rope Stitch

>> http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/chain-stitch/rope-stitch/
>> http://www.needlenthread.com/2008/04/rope-stitch-hand-embroidery-video.html

Raised Fishbone

>> http://stitchschool.blogspot.co.at/2010/03/tutorial-raised-fishbone-stitch.html

Couching

>> http://stitchschool.blogspot.co.at/2006/12/couching.html

Embroidering the Circuit

Close-ups:

Soldering the ends of conductive threads to keep them from fraying:

Cross-over LED-LDR module:

Opposite LED-LDR module:

Sketching the pattern and sewing:

Testing the Embroidered Circuit

Basic circuit diagram:

Final test of final pattern before finalizing it. Final pattern is made up of three modules with one ATtiny microcontroller each. Each microcontrolelr reads one sensor input and outputs two different frequencies to to two seperate speakers, using two PWM LED lights to LDR volume controls.

Studio Space

Making the Feather Shawl

Making the Headpiece

Embroidery Pattern Development

Transferring the pattern to the fabric with a chalk stencil:

Sensor Prototypes

Video

Speaker Prototypes

Video

Sound

Video of final sound:

Electronics prototyping workspace:

LED-LDR volume control tests:

Three ATtinys playing different frequencies with LEDs and LDRs altering their volumes:

Super simple theramin >> http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Flosaparatos.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Ftheremin_29.html&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=es&tl=en

Understanding FM:
Frequency Modulation (FM) >> http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/lpt/a/6547
Understanding musical terms:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonance_and_dissonance

DIGITAL

We know what we want. To have the dress generate a soundscape similar to “a chordal wash of detuned oscillator pairs” featured on the Mozzi Arduino library site >> http://sensorium.github.com/Mozzi/

Lara Grant’s fabric synths:
>> http://vimeo.com/41735339

Wavetable Synthesis
>> http://adrianfreed.com/content/arduino-sketch-high-frequency-precision-sine-wave-tone-sound-synthesis
>> http://learning.codasign.com/index.php?title=Wavetable_Synthesis
>> http://learning.codasign.com/index.php?title=Digital_to_Analogue_Conversion

Arduino and Sound information
Mozzi sound library >> http://sensorium.github.com/Mozzi/
sin wave synthesis by Adrian Freed >> http://adrianfreed.com/content/arduino-sketch-high-frequency-precision-sine-wave-tone-sound-synthesis
>> http://learning.codasign.com/index.php?title=Sound_and_Arduino
>> http://www.uchobby.com/index.php/2007/11/11/arduino-sound-part-1/

R2-R DAC
>> http://learning.codasign.com/index.php?title=Digital_to_Analogue_Conversion

ATtiny as synth:
TinySynth >> http://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/191596

Looking to program ATtiny with C, to speed up PWM cycle

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM

From Arduino to C
>> http://urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2009/05/18/an_tour_of_the_arduino_interna/

PWM volume control:

http://blipbox.org/blog/2011/05/23/arduino-squarewave-generation/

WOW! Wavetable synth on an ATtiny45
>> http://elm-chan.org/works/sd8p/report.html

ANALOG

555 Timer IC

Explains the pins on the 555 >> http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-components-how-the-555-timer-chip-work.html

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-components-the-555-in-astable-oscillat.navId-810969.html

Drawdio

original Drawdio >> http://web.media.mit.edu/~silver/drawdio/make.php
Adafruit Drawdio design >> http://www.ladyada.net/make/drawdio/design.html
Adafruit Drawdio parts list >> http://www.ladyada.net/make/drawdio/parts.html

2 Transistor Multivibrator

>> http://www.circuitsgallery.com/2012/03/astable-multivibrator-using-transistors.html

Sine Waves

Listen to what sine waves sound like compared to square and triangle:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAaLxSyb350&feature=related

OpAmp LM741CN as sinewave generator

Using the circuit schematics bellow, i assembled the following circuit. I found the following values to work for me.
Frequency = 1 / ( 2 * PI * R * C)
PI = 3,14159265
R = 470K = 470,000
C = 0.1uF = 0.0000001F
Frequency = 1 / (2 * 3,14159265 * 470000 * 0.0000001) = 1 / 0.29531 = …?nope…

>> http://www.ecelab.com/circuit-sine-wave-gen.htm

>> http://www.seekic.com/circuit_diagram/Signal_Processing/Oscillator_Circuit/1kHz_sine_wave_oscillator741.html

Here is maybe interesting documentation on op amp sine wave generator >> http://www.ti.com/sc/docs/apps/msp/journal/aug2000/aug_07.pdf

Assembling the Final Dress

First, we assembled the liner of the dress. Here are some pictures of the progress.

The outer layer assembly
First, we assembled front and back top panels and embroidered the pattern.. you do not want to know how long it took to embroider them.

Then we connected the front and back pieces and applied the side embroidery pattern. The picture is the outer layer top with pinned sleeve on liner.

The below picture shows all the outer layer panels after embroidery. It was assembled at this point, then connected all the sensor connections from the pattern on the skirt to the top, then finally all the components were placed with soldering.

Dress Pattern Making

Prior to the residency, dress pattern was prepared at the Swedish School of Textiles with the help of Irmgard Mkhabla and Karin Schneider, Master students at the fashion department.

First, Irmgard showed me how to use the basic pattern and construct different cuts/styles. The style I chose for the crying dress is called “princess style” with two dart line going on the side vertically.

Then Karin helped me to trim the first pattern trial to fit to the body (we are using size 36 doll), alter the pattern to do the second pattern.. until you reach the perfect fit. It is quite amazing how many toiles (trial dress with white toile fabric) you make until you fix the final pattern.

Karin also did a draping for sleeve pattern. You first drape (pin the fabric on a doll) and mark the pinned position, and reflect it back to the paper pattern so you can repeat it. This big whipped cream sleeve needs a really a lot of fabric!

The first sketch/image I made was this cut up photos of dresses put together. and the below image is the toile dress came out from working with them.

Thanks to Irmgard and Karin!

Sketches

Background

Words to describe grieving: mourn, wail, moan, bewail, bemoan, weep, deplore, complain, regret, grieve…

Keening is a form of vocal lament associated with mourning that is traditional in Scotland, Ireland, African, African-American, and other cultures.
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keening

Ululation is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality.
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ululation

Professional mourning or paid mourning, also called moirologists
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_mourning

Professional Mourners of Sardinia, from “Women of the World”
In Sardinia, a man’s worth in life can be determined by the number of women crying at his funeral.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJUQxelrZX4

North Koreans in Pyongyang mourn death of leader Kim Jong-il
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfqP1VxVMMI

>> The Crying Dress

Date: MAY 17-20
Location: Post, Rotterdam The Netherlands,

Mika has been to DEAF festival in Rotterdam, giving a workshop and participating in the panel discussion. The workshop theme was to combine two different “crafting” techniques, 3D printing and Textile techniques, to come up with new materials and techniques that can be incorporated with e-textile practices. We started out with the introduction to each techniques, basic 3D printing and basic textile technique (crochet, knitting and tatting), then the participants separated into groups to experiment how these two techniques can marge. The outcome is quite impressive and diverse. It ranges from self folding Origami to 3D segmented textiles to 3D printer (as robot) crochet performance.

For more details, please see this post at How To Get What You Want!

Panel page on ISEA website>>

exhibition website>>

Closed Circuit Crochet is a technique developed by grandmothers over the past years due to the availability of conductive yarns. These materials offer a wide range of possibilities to be incorporated in traditional knitwear as sensors. Grandmothers seized this opportunity to combine their excellence in needlework with their curiosity for their grandchildren’s lives. Grandsons in particular seem to be the target of this very unique wearable technology phenomenon.”

Above is a description of a fake social phenomena “CCC”. The project Introduces this “most unlikely” or “not yet to be true” scenario. It illustrates the brave
citizen who modifies technology and takes it into their daily practice. “Grandmother” is perhaps the last character to play this role in our stereotypes. Placing
her as a leading practitioner, this scenario highlights that we all can take a role of engineers who designs the use of technology. The grandmother caricatured here is no angel, she has her own ego, needs and wants, creating technological object to serve her purposes.

Technology is there to be hacked, DIYed and modified by everyone to fit our needs and desires.

Inspirational Images

>> http://www.pattydavisdesigns.com/?page_id=75

or see the workshop post at How To Get What You Want

Eight Steps depicts the making-of a wearable instrument. Based on a series of workshops that focus on unveiling the black box of technology in order to demonstrate how everyday electronic objects can be opened up and modified to better suit our personal needs and desires. In the workshops we make use of cheap electronic sound toys, combining their circuitry with the library of Textile Sensors that we have developed, in order to allow participants to construct personalized e-textile interfaces.

Front and back images of all eight steps

Front and back of eighth step

Video

Details

Eight Steps was on show at the Designing Machines Exhibition at the Design Museum Holon from October 14th 2010 – January 1st 2011. The following images from the exhibition were taken by the curators. This installation includes the working desk that shows the making-of process and 9 split image movies that shows the assembling process.

Working desk

Still from split-screen documentation movie

Supported by the MIT Media Lab High-Low Tech research group and funded (in part) by a Director’s Grant from the Council for the Arts at MIT.

>> Exhibition website
>> Projet page

This KOBAKANT DIY wearable technology documentation aims to be a comprehensible, accessible and maintainable reference resource, as well as a basis for further exploration and contribution.

go to website>> www.kobakant.at/DIY

Massage me for your feet!

Instructions published in WEAVE

A project series inspired by cows and technology. This collection of projects featuring cows inside the black box reflects some of our humorous attitude towards technology.

Did you know that there are cows inside your electronic appliances! You probably don’t because you normally wouldn’t open up these sorts of things. Except if they break and you take it upon yourself to fix them yourself. Nowadays we tend to throw away broken electronics, replacing them with newer, cheaper, better versions, rather than opening them up in an attempt to understand what went wrong and possibly being able to fix them. So, why not open up some of your broken electronic appliances and discover the secret life of cows!

Secret life #1: Cows in the Black Box

We plant cows inside electronics, some of them are returned to shops, some of them may be lying on your desk, waiting for the day you’ll open them.

“Honey, why is there a cow in my keyboard?”

“Oh, there is a cow in my mouse…”

Some cows make it back to the shop…

Secret life #2: Transparent Technology

Custom cow FabFM radio

If you’ve ever opened up an electronic device then you’ll know all about the secret life of cows. Transparent technology is about re-designing technology to better expose this universe in which cows and microcontrollers happily coexist.
>> Project page

Inspired by Joergen Leth’s 1967 short film “The Perfect Human” and Lars von Trier’s “The Five Obstructions” (2003). This performance intends to create a sixth obstruction of The Perfect Human, by introducing rules in order to complete the performance as a game.

In preparation for the game the performer receives a suitcase, one week in advance. The artists do not meet or talk with the performer until the day of the performance. The Suitcase contains items selected to help the performer prepare herself for the game. None of the items impose any obligation on the performer. Instead she is free to inspect and make use of them in any way she sees fit. But she must prepare herself. On the day of the performance, the performer must show up at the named time and location carrying the suitcase with all its contents. The game begins as the performer starts putting on the socks, the last item of the costume.

During the performance the performer reaches a point in the game, where she must mirror the audience in order to complete the level. This allows the audience to explore the wearable motion-capture system through the mirroring of movement. Moreover the audience must themselves become involved in order to perform the role of the perfect human.

Technical

The actual performance takes place in public space. The setup is fully portable by the artists and performer. The performer wears a handmade motion-capture costume that includes fabric bend sensors for tracking the motion of the limbs and wireless communication to send the sensor data from the suit to a nearby laptop. Software on the laptop analyzes the sensor data and triggers words from The Perfect Human text. An FM radio transmitter broadcasts these words to surrounding radios, which are tuned to the frequency of the FM transmitter. The radios play back the sound for everybody to hear.

Selected Photos from previous performances

The Perfect Human performance has developed over time. Not all previous performers received the suitcase for preparation in advance.

Sao Paulo, Brazil (2010)

Findhorn, Scotland (2009)

Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2009)

Dresden, Germany (2008)

Linz, Austria (2008)

Credits

Performance at the Mostra Sesc des Artes at SESC Pompeia in Sao Paulo, Brazil 18-28 November 2010
Performer: Ivy Mari Mikami
The Voice:
Humming: Kristina Lindberg
Translation: Gabi Carneiro
Thanks to: SESC, COM TATO and Gabi Carneiro

Performance at the 3×3 Dance & Cross Art Collaboration, Findhorn Universal Hall, Scotland, 17 July 2009
Performer: Rosalind Masson
The Voice: Tim Devine
Humming: Kristina Lindberg
Documentation Camera: Friedrich Kirschner
Thanks to: Distance Lab, Bodysurf Scotland

Performance at the V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 20 May 2009
Performer: Rita Vilhena
The Voice: Tim Devine
Human’s Voice: Kristina Lindberg
Documentation Camera: V2_

Performance at the Post me new ID forum, Dresden, Germany, Oct 30 – Nov 1, 2008
Performer: Sasha Spasic
The Voice: Tim Devine
Human’s Voice: Kristina Lindberg
Documentation Camera: Jennifer Nicoll

Performance at the ARS Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, Sept 4-7, 2008
Performer: Ivana Kalc
Ivana is a dancer, performer and choreographer who studied German and history in Croatia, and dance in Austria. She lives and works between Croatia, Austria and Germany.
The Voice: Tim Devine
Human’s Voice: Ivana Kalc
Documentation Camera: Ingo Randolf, Sofy Yudiskaya, Bernd Kranebitter
Thanks to: Kunstuniversitaet Linz, Interface Cultures and Ars Electronica Festival 2008

Photos

Videos

Sao Paulo, Brazil (Rehearsal)

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Findhorn, Scotland (Video by Cindy Jeffers)

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Dresden, Germany

Linz, Austria

Linz, Austria

Linz, Austria

A series of performances that use customized editions of the Puppeteer motion-capture suit to communicate concepts concerning the use of motion, gesture and the spoken word as forms of communication.

The Language Game series is a project by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson.
Each Language Game edition is realized in collaboration with individual dancers, performers or otherwise interested professionals.

at LEMUR

In this first edition of the Language Game, the performer, wearing a custom designed soft sensor suit, puppeteers Lemur’s surrounding robotic musical instruments. As the performer begins to experiment with the system’s potential, her dance becomes both action and reaction.
This Language Game edition was developed during a one-month residency at Lemur in Brooklyn, NY.

Videos

The following videos can also be found on the Language Game YouTube playlist, or download high quality version of edited performance video (57MB)

Performance at Lemur

Rehearsals at Lemur

Photos

All of the following photos and more can be found in original size in the following Flickr sets: Mika’s Puppeteer2NY and Hannah’s Language Game

Front and back of suit

Performer in motion

Close-ups and details

The technology inside and out

Making-of

Lemur’s musical robots

For support and collaboration we would like to thank:

Micaela Schedlbauer
Micaela is a competitive ballroom dancer based in New York. She is also interested in new media dance/performance.
vscentaurix@gmail.com

Lemur
League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots
www.lemurbots.org
human@lemurbots.org

Concept, soft sensor suit and motion-capture to midi interface by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson. Performer, professional ballroom dancer Micaela Schedlbauer. Robotic musical instruments by Lemur, League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots.

The performance “Ein kleines Puppenspiel” by Friedrich Kirschner is a live animated puppet play that uses the Puppeteer motion-capture suit as, well as gametracks, to puppeteer the two main digital characters in the story as well as controll a virtual camera in the 3D space.

“Ein kleines Puppenspiel” has been performed at the Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden in November 2007 as part of the CYNETart07_encounter, and International Trickfilm-Festival in Stuttgart in May 2008.

Our role in this performance was the creation of a motion-capture suit that would be worn by a professional dancer to puppeteer a virtual puppet as part of the live animated puppet play mentioned above. Our main motif behind creating this first version of Puppeteer was to implement flexible fabric pressure sensors that we had developed during earlier experimentation. All the materials that were used are off-the-shelf and inexpensive. It only took us 2 weeks to compete the finished suit.

Videos

Performance in Stuttgart at the ITFS

Realtime animation

Performance in Dresden at the CYNETart07

Photos

“Ein kleines Puppenspiel” was conceived and directed by Friedrich Kirschner. Live camera by Bianca Bodmer, live music and sound by Sebastian Zangar/Jacob Korn, the puppet Ivana Kalc, wearable interface by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson.
Thanks to Trans Media Akademie Hellerau and Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology.

The idea of Puppeteer is to create functional wearable motion-capture technology using off the shelf supplies, experimenting with soft conductive materials to achieve interesting and comforatble results. So far we have designed and made three Puppeteer motion-capture costumes for different performance. Each time, tailoring the costume both aesthetically and functionally to the context and concept of the performance.

Instructable >> http://www.instructables.com/id/Puppeteer-Motion-Capture-Costume/

So far there have been three completed versions of Puppeteer that were used in the following performances:
Perfect Human >> http://www.kobakant.at/?p=29
Language Game >> http://www.kobakant.at/?p=27
Ein Kleines Puppenspiel >> http://www.kobakant.at/?p=25

First Version: Ein Kleines Puppenspiel

The fabric pressure sensors integrated in this version of the Puppeteer costume are made from two layers of conductive fabric with a layer of ex-static in between (see Flexible-fabric-touchpad Instructable). These layers are sandwiched between two layers of neoprene to offer a certain amount of stability and thus more regular data. The patches of conductive fabric are “ironed-on” to the neoprene using fusing. The layer of ex-static, which is taken from the black bags used to package or store sensitive electronic parts, lies between the layers of conductive fabric, preventing direct contact. The neoprene is sewn together around the edges keeping everything in place.

The sensors work such that a current of 5 volt runs from the microcontroller (we are using Arduinos) into one of the conductive patches of the sensor. When pressure is applied to the touchpad, by pushing the layers together or by bending the sensor, the ex-static layer lowers its resistance. The lower the resistance of the ex-static, the more current can flow to the other side, reaching the other patch of conductive fabric which leads back to an input in the microcontroller. Thus the current reaching the microcontroller input varies with the pressure applied to the sensor. This change in pressure can be mapped to an angle between two bones of a virtual puppet.
Depending on which bones the sensor is addressing, the software running on the computer (we are using Processing) that receives this data needs to know the minimum and maximum angle for this sensor, and also the direction or the segment of the sin circle.
For example, the sensor under the armpit offers maximum current (minimum resistance of the ex-static) when the arm is at the body’s side. When the arm is stretched up then the sensor will not be bent and the current flow at a minimum (the resistance of the ex-static at its max).

In this first version of Puppeteer each side of the fabric touchpads is connected via a wire to the main plug, which is situated at the lower back of the body. From the main plug a 3 meter cable leads away from the body to the microcontroller which interprets the electric signal before sending it to a laptop via USB.

In all twelve sensors were integrated in the suit at the joints, six on either side of the body.
Following joint movements were captured:
- Knees
- Hips
- Shoulders
- Underarms
- Elbows
- Wrists

The sensors were sewn into place underneath the tight stretchy fabric of the suit. Depending on what worked best for each joint the sensor was placed either on the inside or the outside of the joint’s bending angle. The wires from the sensors protrude thought the suit and are covered in bright orange fabric to hide the delicate feeling that exposed wires give, they also to emphasize the connections to the joints and are a kind of visual metaphor for the “strings” of a puppet.
The plug at the back of the suit is stable enough to stay attached despite rigorous movement but also allows for the dancer to disconnect herself and walk away. Disconnecting kills the data transfer and reconnecting works without restarting the software.

A wearable massage interface that turns a video game player’s excess energy into a back massage for an innocent bystander.

www.massage-me.at

Playing Massage me requires two people, one who wears the jacket to receive the massage and one who massages the person wearing the jacket. Soft flexible buttons are embedded in back of the jacket so that wearing it turns your back into a gamepad. All you need to do is to sit or lay down in front of a video game player and you will be able to enjoy a back massage while the game lasts.

Otherwise wasted button-pushing energy is transformed into a massage and the addicted game player becomes an inexhaustible masseur.

The soft flexible buttons are made from layers of conductive fabric and are embedded in the back of the jacket. These buttons register the massage moves and interpret them before passing them on to the console as control signals. This means that Massage me works with existing games, and the best massages come from playing games that require the player to press a lot of buttons and combinations.
Although Massage me currently works with a hacked a Playstation Controller, we believe it wouldn’t be hard to convert it to other consoles by hacking their controllers.

Thanks to Art University Linz,
Interface Cultures,
Bauhaus University Weimar,
Ars Electronica Festival 2007 and ACAR2