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  • anti-static arduino battery bend button circuit Communication component conductive Conductive Materials conductive thread connection crochet eeonyx example project fabric input knit material metal neoprene Non-Conductive Materials piano pouch power pressure resistive sensor Sensors solder solution sound stretch stretch conductive fabric t-shirt thread tilt tool trace velostat wearable wireless workshop Xbee yarn
    Content by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson


    Hannah is currently a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab's
    High-Low Tech research group


    Supported by Distance Lab

    Fold Over Elastic (FOE)

    Sold widely for cloth diapers (nappies). Great for edging neoprene and other stretch fabrics. Comes in different widths, colors and mat/shiny options.

    Simple Fabric Pressure Sensors

    Variations of very simple fabric pressure sensors made from various resistive fabrics sandwiched between conductive layers. This is an ongoing experimentation. Similar to the neoprene Bend and Pressure Sensors and the Stickytape Sensors, these also make use of the resistive changes of various materials under pressure. Variations in pressure sensitivity and stability can be achieved [...]

    Xbee Direct (Xbee-Xbee)

    xbee can be connected directly like an invisible wire. You can set the matching pins as one of them as input (AI/DI) and the other as output (PO/DO).

    Knit Touchpad

    This rectangular piece of knit, cut from an anti-static glove, has different resistance ranges, depending if you measure across the rows or columns of the stich.
    >> Instructable

    The range of resistance across the columns of stiches is about 30K Ohm. The range of resistance across the rows of stitches is about 90 K Ohm. This means [...]

    Neoprene Pressure Sensor Matrix

    Four separate pressure sensors not only give feedback about where I’m pressing, but also how hard.

    Fabric Stretch Sensors

    Creating stretch sensors from stretchy fabrics that have conductive/resistive properties that change depending on the stretching of the fabric. I’m hoping this will allow to make super simple stretch sensors and lead to other interesting possibilities.

    Xbee dongle

    To communicate with xbee from your computer, you need to make serial or USB/serial connection between your computer and Xbee.
    There are some Xbee-USB dongles you can buy, such as XBee Explorer USB from Sparkfun or USB-XBEE-DONGLE-CARRIER from New Micros.
    Also, here is a nice site that shows how to make your own USB-Xbee dongle (I think you [...]

    Tilt Sensor

    Combining beads and other decorative elements with conductive textiles to create tilt sensitive designs. A bracelet decorated with six conductive fabric petals and a row of beads with a metal bead on the end, makes for a simple six point tilt detection. It is also designed so that the metal bead will make contact with [...]

    Fabric Scissors

    Comfortable, angled grip. Do not use to cut anything but fabrics, this will keep the blades sharp.

    File

    Great for filing perfboards to have smooth edges, that will not fray or cut through conductive thread.

    Fabric Markers

    also: air-erasing markers, textile markers
    Marking pen, often bright purple in colour, that will vanish without washing. Do not iron over marks because heat will set the marks and they cannot be removed. Test on fabric before using.
    For darker fabrics chalk and white pencil works well.

    >> http://yarntree.com/cross-stitch/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5753 (USA)
    >> http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=504 (USA)

    Popper Machines

    see also: Materials >> Metal Poppers

    Wire Wrap Tool

    see also: “Fashioning Technology” by Syuzi Pakhchyan, page 195

    Time Sensing Bracelet

    The Time Sensing Bracelet is a Fabric Potentiometer. You select your desired time of day by making contact in the corresponding position on your wrist - where your watch would normally be.

    DIY 3V step-up “Joule Thief”

    There is an interesting tutorial for how to make 3V step-up circuit by using simple component from. The project is called Joule Thief. With this module, you can light up LED (it needs 3V) with single AAA battery (1.5V).

    Xbee FirmwareUpdate

    How to upload firmwares on Xbee using Arduino board.

    Metal Poppers

    also know as: snap, snap fastener, press stud
    also see: Tools >> popper machines
    Metal poppers are great for making electrical connections. They are traditionally a wearable fastener. They are a washable and reliable connection method.
    We have found that not all metal poppers are good for solder to. White bronze, brass, PWP nickle free, silver finish…

    Polymorph

    also: Shapelock, Polycaprolactone, Friendly Plastic, InstaMorph
    Polymorph is an low temperature thermoplastic. Super strong and tough. It melts at around 65 degrees Celsius and hardens at room temperature. It comes as small white pellets that go transparent when put in hot water. They can then be formed and become opaque again as they cool off.

    Neoprene Pressure Sensor

    also: neoprene pressure sensor, conductive thread Pressure Sensor
    Stitching conductive thread into neoprene to create a pressure sensitive pad. This sensor is very similar to the Fabric bend sensor or vis-versa. And also close to the Fabric Pressure Sensor, but the difference is that the conductive surface is minimized by stitching only a few stitches on [...]

    Multiplexer Fabric Breakout

    Used in Puppeteer motion-capture costume.

    Neoprene Battery Pouches

    These neoprene battery pouches are made to fit different kinds of common batteries. They turn out to be very useful when prototyping and competing a range of different projects, not necessarily just wearable ones.

    Fabric Button

    also: soft button, textile button, soft switch
    These super simple fabric buttons are soft, fun to push and can come in handy when building various prototypes. They all share the same ground or plus, depending on what you hook what up to.

    Neoprene Motor Pouch

    Used in solar t-shirt workshop.

    Neoprene Bend Sensor

    also: neoprene bend sensor, conductive thread Bend Sensor, Bend Sensor (thread)
    This bend sensor actually reacts (decreases in resistance) to pressure, not specifically to bend. But because it is sandwiched between two layers of neoprene (rather sturdy fabric), pressure is exerted while bending, thus allowing one to measure bend (angle) via pressure.