Location:
Himbeer Atelier, Linz, Austria
Date:

In this series of workshops, you will be introduced to conductive textile materials and ways to use them. There will be a small introduction to microcontroller programming and beginner electronics. The aim of the workshop is to get familiar with these materials and techniques and to develop your own project. No previous knowledge on programming or electronics is required. Some experience on sewing and handcrafting is helpful.

Meeting 1: (13th,14th August 13-17h)
This first meeting of the workshop series introduces the use of conductive textile materials and ordinary textile tools to build electronic circuits and sensors. We will experiment with various conductive fabric, threads and yarn to learn their material properties and possible use. We will construct range of sensors that senses touch, bend, pressure and stroke. The finished sensors are then connected with a simple fabric LED circuit to test the outcome. Toward the end of the workshop, participants are encouraged to develop their own sensors.

Meeting 2: (20th, 21st August 13-17h)
The second meeting of this series will explore the use of Arduino and Lilypad Arduino together with the fabric sensors that are constructed in the first meeting. We will cover: How to connect sensors to the input pins of Arduino, How to program Arduino, and How to send the sensor data to computer. We will also use Lilypad (sewable version of Arduino) to experiment with complete fabric circuitries. No previous programing knowledge is required, although you will be required NOT to be a programing-phobia.
Toward the end of the workshop, we will start discussing individual project you would like to work on further using the techniques introduced in the workshops.

If you are bringing your laptop, please download the Arduino environment and install it prior to the workshop.
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
Useful Link:
Lilypad Tutorial
>>http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/LilyPad/
The sound example I demonstrated during the workshop
>>http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/LilyPad/07_sound.html
and the code (I modified this code to play sound with button)
>>http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/LilyPad/07_sound_code.html

Firmata (Arduino Library for communication with computer)
>>http://firmata.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pduino (PD patch to read firmata)
>>http://at.or.at/hans/pd/objects.html

Meeting 3: (27th August 13-17h)
In the third meeting, we will discuss about your own project and its developing methods. I will be able to suggest: materials and components that suits to your project, physical construction and programming techniques, interaction strategy and so on. This meeting will be an extra session for the people who wants to develop their own projects and are seeking for some suggestions or discussions.

Presentation : (Date unknown, sometime in the beginning of september)
We would like to organize a small presentation evening to exhibit the final project of the participants. This will be to show and shear your intervention to your friends and public.

OUTCOME

Cat face tilt sensor. Eyes and nose are embroidered with conductive thread.

Three fabric buttons array

High heel pressure sensor.. in progress

Crochet button and battery holder

A stroke-able hairy underwear

pressure sensitive inner shoe sole

more pictures on flickr