Publications from this project

Peer reviewed journal articles

The Design and Engineering of a Fall and Near-Fall Detection Electronic Textile (2023)

This article describes the engineering and development of an over-sock with an IMU embedded E-yarn for the detection of falls and near-falls. This extensive study was aided by an expert from the University of Nottingham. The final system was capable of correctly classifying between falls, near-falls, and activities of daily living (walking etc.) with an accuracy of 94.2 %. The article is available here.

Classifying gait alterations using an instrumented smart sock and deep learning (2022)

This article describes the measurement of gait using two sock that incorporate a series of three E-yarns embedded with accelerometers each. Machine learning was then used to identify gait patterns linked to different movement disorders. The article is available here.

Finite element analysis of the mechanical stresses on the core structure of electronically functional yarns (2022)

This work explored using finite element modelling to optimise the encapsulation of components in E-yarns to enhance durability. The article is available here. Originally this work took the form of a poster that was presented at the 3rd International Conference on the Challenges, Opportunities, Innovations and Applications in Electronic Textiles (UK).

Vibration-Sensing Electronic Yarns for the Monitoring of Hand Transmitted Vibrations (2021)

This article details the design and characterisation of a vibration sensing electronic yarn that is suitable for monitoring hand transmitted vibrations. The E-yarns were subsequently used to develop a vibration sensing glove that can measure vibration at both the palm and index finger. The article is available here.

Wash Testing of Electronic Yarn (2020)

This work details an extensive study into the wash durability of different types of E-yarn including E-yarns with embedded LEDs, thermistors, and microphones. The paper explores the wash durability of the E-yarns using machine washing and both machine drying and line drying. The article is available here.

Conference presentations

Recent advances in the automated production of electronic yarns (2023)

This invited talk at the Future Textiles 2023 conference provided a holistic overview of the recent developments on the project, including recent progress with the automated production of the E-yarns.

Design approach to an automated electronic yarn manufacturing system (2023)

This poster was presented at the Future Textiles 2023 conference and detailed the design approach taken towards the creation of the automated soldering system for soldering small electronic components onto Litz wires. The poster included details of the digital prototyping that has been used in the project and some of the concepts that were trailed but were unsuccessful. The poster can be viewed here.

Electronically Functional Yarns (E-yarns) for smart textiles (2023)

This invited talked at the 7th World Congress of Smart Materials overviewed the concept of E-yarns more generally and detailed some of the recent progress towards the automated production of electronic yarns.

Developing a new generation of health monitoring devices using electronic textiles (2022)

This keynote talk at the 1st International Symposium of Kharazmi University on Cell and Tissue Engineering: Bench to Bedside and Industry focussed on the possible implementation of E-yarn based devices for health monitoring applications. The talk overviewed a number of prototypes created using the E-yarn technology.

Energy harvesting and storage with electronic textiles (2022)

This invited talk at the 9th Forum on New Materials focussed on recent advances by the ATRG on the development of woven textile solar panels. As part of the talk the E-yarn technology (core to this work) and other applications were also presented.

Development of a manufacturing process for a robust electronic yarn (2021)

This poster was presented at the 3rd International Conference on the Challenges, Opportunities, Innovations and Applications in Electronic Textiles (UK). The poster covered recent developments made in enhancing the durability of the core E-yarn, and presented the current manufacturing process.

The Design and Development of Electronic Textiles for Health Monitoring Applications (2020)

This poster was presented at the 7th International Molecular Med Tri-Con in San Francisco (USA). The poster included recent work on the automated soldering of semi-conductor devices onto thin copper wires.

Books

Electronically Active Textiles (2020)

The book ‘Electronically Active Textiles’ edited by Professor Dias has been published. The book contains articles from a special issue of Fibres of the same name. The book is available here.

The portfolio of patents on E-yarn technology

Operative devices installed in yarns (2009)

The original patent’s claims describe the incorporation of an operative device (such as a silicon chip) within the structure of a yarn to be incorporated into a fabric product. The granted EU patent (EP 1882059 B1) can be viewed here.

Electronically functional yarns (2017)

This patent’s claims relate to the incorporation of electronic devices within the structure of yarns and specifically details the concept of protecting the incorporated electronics and electrical connections. The patent has been granted in multiple countries including the US patent (US 10,301,751 B2), UK (GB 2529900 B), the EU (EP 3191632 B1), and China (CN 106715769 B).

Method of manufacturing electronic strip yarn (2019)

This patent’s claims describe mounting a series of electronic devices along multiple non-conductive supporting yarns. The grant US patent (US 10,458,048 B2) can be viewed here.

Other relevant journal articles

MANUFACTURING ELECTRONIC YARNS

Automated insertion of package dies onto wire and into a textile yarn
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This work details the a semi-automated prototype production process for creating electronic yarns. The article is available here.

A Novel Method for Embedding Semiconductor Dies within Textile Yarn to Create Electronic Textiles (2019)

This paper details a semi-automated process for forming a resin micro-pod around a soldered small-scale electronic component. The work details design considerations and material characterisation. The article is available here.

Electronic yarn sensors

An investigation of temperature-sensing textiles for temperature monitoring during sub-maximal cycling trials (2020)

This article describes a study where a cycling suit instrumented with temperature sensing E-yarn was used during a cycling trail to monitor skin temperature, with the hope of using the system to understand thermoregulation. The measurements from the temperature sensing cycling suit were compared to skin mounted thermistors and the results analysed and compared. The article is available here.

Developing a Vibration-Sensing Yarn for Monitoring Hand-Transmitted Vibrations (2019)

This work describes the characterisation of an E-yarn with an embedded accelerometer that can be used to monitor vibration over a range of amplitudes and frequencies relevant to hand-transmitted vibrations, and therefore may be of interest for health monitoring applications. The article is available here.

Photodiodes embedded within electronic textiles (2018)

This research investigated the effect that inserting a photodiode within the structure of a yarn has on its response. The work characterised the effects of using different micro-pod sizes and materials, and proposed a general theoretical model that can be used to calculate the lensing effect that the micro-pod would have on any embedded optical component. The final E-yarns produced were also characterised and the wash durability of the E-yarns were presented. The article is available here.

Developing an Acoustic Sensing Yarn for Health Surveillance in a Military Setting (2018)

This project developed an acoustic sensing yarn by integrating a small-scale micro-electro-mechanical systems microphone within the structure of a yarn. The work characterised the operation of the yarn when exposed to a range of frequencies and amplitudes of sound. An E-textile acoustic sensing helmet cover is presented. The article is available here.

Developing Novel Temperature Sensing Garments for Health Monitoring Applications (2018)

A variety of articles have been published discussing the design, development, and characterisation of temperature sensing electronic yarns. This work focussed on the creation of different prototype garments incorporating temperature sensing E-yarns including an arm-band, sock, and glove. The article is available here.

A Wearable Textile Thermograph (2018)

Temperature sensing E-yarns were used to develop a textile thermograph that is capable of taking multiple temperature measurements over the surface of the textile. The article is available here.

This publication expanded upon the article ‘Refinement of Temperature Sensing Yarns‘ available here.

A Study of Thermistor Performance within a Textile Structure (2017)

This work described the construction and characterisation of a temperature sensing electronic yarn. The work focussed on the step response time of the thermistor once it was embedded within a resin micro-pod. The article is available here.

Energy harvesting

An investigation of a wash‐durable solar energy harvesting textile (2019)

Small-scale solar cells were embedded within the structure of a textile yarn in-order to create energy harvesting textiles. The work investigated the operation of the solar energy harvesting yarns and textiles under different conditions (i.e. angle of incident light) and presented a prototype textile solar panel that incorporated 200 solar cells. The article is available here.

Solar Energy-Harvesting E-Textiles to Power Wearable Devices (2019)

This work presented a series of solar energy harvesting fabrics. The study included testing four solar energy harvesting fabrics made using different material combinations (white fibres, red fibres, black fibres, and white fibres with resin impregnation) outside, and compared their power density’s to a commercially available flexible solar cell. The article is available here.

Light emitting yarns

Exploring the Role of Textile Craft Practice in Interdisciplinary E-Textiles Development through the Design of an Illuminated Safety Cycling Jacket (2019)

This paper describes the creation of an illuminated cycling jacket created using E-yarns with embedded LEDs. The article is available here.

Engineering a Costume for Performance Using Illuminated LED-Yarns (2018)

E-yarns with embedded LEDs were used to create a carnival costume. The work describes some of the challenges in incorporating the LED E-yarns into a stretchable fabric. The article is available here.

E-Textile Reviews

A Historical Review of the Development of Electronic Textiles (2018)

This review provides a concise overview to the historical development of electronic textiles. The article is available here.

A review of solar energy harvesting electronic textiles

This review focusses on the textile aspects of solar E-textiles, highlighting different textile properties and durability testing that has been conducted in the literature. The full article is available here.