Craftzine.com blog: Soft Circuits Archives

Archive: Soft Circuits

May 8, 2009

CRAFT Video: Color Changing LED Brooch

Sew up this little colorful brooch using a LilyPad tri-color LED and three small potentiometers for a customizable color wardrobe embellishment. No programming required!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

Potentiometers are variable resistors. They change the amount of electricity that can pass through them based on the turning of the knob, thereby dimming and brightening the three channels of the tri-color LED. The colors mix and diffuse through the roving, producing any color in the rainbow. Here's the front,

and the back,

and here's the diagram for sewing the components together.

Materials and tools:

conductive thread (E-sewing Kit)
coincell battery (E-sewing Kit)
sewable battery holder (E-sewing Kit)
LilyPad tri-color LED (Sparkfun)
3 small 1K-ohm potentiometers (Digikey)
small on-off pushbutton switch (Digikey)
brooch template (cardboard or illustration board)
fabric
needle and thread
pin back
wool roving
felting needle
felting surface (upholstery foam scrap works great)
scissors
pliers
alligator clips for prototyping

More:

In the Maker Shed:

LilyPad E-Sewing Kit

May 7, 2009

Wearable Technology At ITP

Ellie Roundtree, a Rocketboom technology correspondent, takes us on a tour of the spring show at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, highlighting wearable technology projects. I'm digging Adam Harvey's Paparazzi defense flash and Anaid Gomez's heartrate-sensing iPod controller. Via Core77.

More:

April 28, 2009

Incredible Electronic Dress

Via the CRAFT Flickr pool, Marisa Ranalli made this totally amazing handmade electronic and fiber dress powered by LilyPad Arduinos and included LEDs and nitinol wire (an alloy that changes shape when electricity is applied). It's her final project in the Textiles program at Sheridan College in Toronto, and it's totally rad! I'd love to see a video about it. It will be shown at the Lennox Contemporary Gallery from April 30th-May 10th.

More:

April 14, 2009

Fabric Bend Sensor Kit

Hanna Perner-Wilson just released a kit version of her fabric bend sensor- everything you need to make one yourself!

This is a kit, meaning that it comes unassembled and requires you to have tools and some regular sewing thread as well as about half an hour time for completion.

This kit contains:

* Two 2 x 12 cm pieces of 1.5 mm thick HS quality neoprene with polyester jersey fused to each side (gray, purple)

* Two 1.5 x 9.5 cm pieces of Velostat

* Two 1 x 2 cm pieces of stretch conductive fabric with fusible interfacing adhered to one side

* 60 cm of conductive thread

* 1:1 Instruction stencil printout on A4 paper

To compete this kit you will need:

* Regular clothing iron

* About 60 cm of regular sewing thread

* Sewing needle

* Scissors for cutting thread

* Knife for cutting out stencil

* Pen for marking stencil

You can use her Instructable as a guide to construction.

April 10, 2009

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino Blinking Bike Patch

In this intermediate soft circuit tutorial, I show you how to make a light-up patch that can be used on your backpack for fun and bike safety. If you missed my LilyPad Arduino 101, you may want to watch that first. The theme of this year's Maker Faire is "Re-Make America" so I thought I'd add some red, white, and blue LEDs to my messenger bag. I added them to a removable patch (from the fatlab, an artist collective I'm part of) so I can easily remove it at the airport, in the rain, etc. I used a rechargeable lithium polymer batter to power the whole thing because it's flatter, lasts longer, and can be recharged instead of thrown away. I also made an Instructable where you can find links to all the supplies I used. You can download the source code and schematic for this project to get started on your own!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

In the Maker Shed:

Lilypad E-Sewing Kit

LilyPad Pro Kit

More:

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101

April 6, 2009

LilyPad Arduino Workshop in Berkeley This Summer

Want to get your hands working with the LilyPad Arduino system? There's a workshop being held in Berkeley this summer on the topic. It will be two full days of getting started with the LilyPad and conductive materials for use in your own projects, taught by Adrian Freed. Via F ashioning Technology.

By cutting, sewing, sticking, weaving, and layering unusual e-textiles we will build interactive clothing and musical instruments in a collaborative workshop environment. We will connect our fabric pressure, stretch, bend, and displacement sensors to lilypad e-sewing computing platform, we will sew connections to arrays of leds and sound makers. We will explore CNMAT's extensive library of e-textiles and more advanced techniques such as computer controlled embroidery and laser cutting. We will look at variants and alternatives to the lilypad such as wireless xbee or uOSC.

E-textile Workshop

July 25-26, 10 AM-5 PM

CNMAT, Berkeley, CA

Fee: $300 (includes materials fee with lilypad system you keep after the class)

More:

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101

New Soft Circuit Kits in the Maker Shed and Massive Soft Electronics Roundup

Electronic Embroidery/Sewing Kit

March 28, 2009

Touch Sensitive LilyPad Arduino Hoodie

Instructables user kanjun writes:

This tutorial will show you how to create a garment that changes its behavior depending on how conductive you are. It detects conductivity through iron-on conductive fabric that we will use, and it will light up and sing different notes depending on how you touch the conductive fabric. We'll be using sewable electronics (the LilyPad arduino module) and conductive threads and fabrics so that your garment will be soft and washable.

More:

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101

March 27, 2009

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101

Get started with the LilyPad Arduino! It's a sewable microcontroller that lets you embed lights, sounds, sensors, and much more into your wearables, perfect for clothing and accessories. In this video I'll show you how to attach the LilyPad and power supply to each other, and upload a basic program that blinks an LED. You can use Arduino with Windows, OS X, and Linux. Next time I'll show some more advanced topics including hooking up a sensor and using it to change the circuit's behavior.

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v (iPhone) or mov movie.

Download the code you'll need for Arduino to execute this example. It's also here:

In the Maker Shed:

Lilypad E-Sewing Kit

LilyPad Pro Kit

More:

Electronic Embroidery - CRAFT Video Podcast

March 24, 2009

Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: The Fashion Show Night

(Photos by: Doug Eng and Shane O'Neill)

On March 19th, I had my book release party for Fashion Geek: Clothes, Accessories, Tech at Pop Lounge. It included a fashion presentation of all of the DIY electronic fashions in the book. Here's a look behinds the scenes of making the DIY projects into a fashion presentation.

Jen Parker and Elizabeth Owusu were the hair stylists armed with headbands to give the models' hair Gossip Girl style. About an hour before the show an EL wire driver breaks! Edith Kollath steps in and helped hand sew a replacement EL wire driver on the back of a model's skirt, just 15 minutes before the show's start time.

Finally, the models are in place on Fashion Geek platforms. Fashion Indie did a fantastic job running the event. They helped find the location Pop Lounge, managed the guest list, told the models when to smile, and the DJ's where to stand. As the guests begin pouring in, someone noted that the nerds tended to congregate towards the back of the room, while the fashion designers stood in the front near the models. Everyone munched on bacon toffee and chocolate covered Pop Rocks from Danielle Bilton. We listened to digital music from Eric Skiff. Then DJ Joey Mariano played digital music live from his hacked guitar and hacked Game Boy. In the end, I think everyone all had a good time.

You can watch a video of the fashion presentation by Bre Pettis here:

Thanks to CRAFT for letting me share my behind the scenes with you. I'll be back here later next month with a fashion project. Until then, catch up with me on my blog Fashionnerd.com.

Here's all the Behind the Scenes posts:

March 16, 2009

Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: Designing Fashion with Electronics

My new book Fashion Geek: Clothes, Accessories, Tech is out in bookstores now. It teaches how to make 13 DIY electronic fashion projects using things like LEDs, hacked pedometers, and conductive thread. I had a lot of fun making this book, and the best part was designing fashions for other people to make.

Fashion Geek is crafts meets fashion. I followed the fashion design process: gathering inspiration, sketching, making samples, and drafting patterns to create designs that everyone can DIY. Most electronic clothing is futuristic and sci-fi looking. But to me the future is now. I want to make fashion and technology cute, friendly, and accessible to everyone — something that everyone can make and wear. My inspiration is cute things like Tokidoki + J-pop (Japanese pop culture) with a bit of a hipster edge to make the style more wearable for today. I use a lot of trim, ribbons, bells, beads, and cut-out flowers because it's the little things that make a difference.

Even though there are many cute designs and embellishments, Fashion Geek is not only for girls. Projects like the EL Wire Shoes were inspired by the brightly colored fun clothing of Kid Robot and Japanese hip hop clothing brand Bathing Ape. I wanted to give the shoes an under light glow, but how could I add this without making it look tacky? I thought back to the super cushioned Nike Air Jordans, and added the glow in the cushion. Now we have a shoe with under lighting that is perfect for the Bathing Ape, Kid Robot, and post-Heatherette customer. In true hipster fashion, there is of course a hoodie, the Headphone Hoodie, that plays music in the hood.

My favorite design is the Felt Flower Flash Drive, a USB thumb drive necklace, which I wear all the time. It's oversized and truly inspired by the cute things of J-pop. You can see it plugged into the computer, and me wearing it while MTV films my model call. Stay tuned for my next CRAFT entry Wednesday as I cast models, grab hair and make-up tear sheets, and throw together a few more garments Project Runway-style for the big Fashion Geek presentation this Thursday, March 19th. You can also catch up with me on my blog, Fashionnerd.com.

March 12, 2009

How-To: Wind Conductive Threads Together

Check out this Instructable on winding different conductive threads together to get different thicknesses, resistances, and textures by adding in your favorite yarn, too!

March 11, 2009

Soft Tilt-Sensing Bracelet

Hannah Perner-Wilson made this simple tilt-sensing bracelet using pads of conductive fabric and a metal beaded charm. The charm dangles and moves, touching one or two of the pads at a time, which can indicate which way your wrist is facing! Great for body-reactive sound and visuals in dance performance.

March 9, 2009

Soft Pressure Sensor Matrix

Soft circuit superstar Hannah Perner-Wilson made an instructable for how to create a soft pressure sensor matrix with conductive thread, fabric, and neoprene. She also sells the sensors in her Etsy shop!

More:

In the Maker Shed:

Lilypad E-Sewing Kit

March 7, 2009

Soft Circuit Guide on Instructables

Randy Sarafan made a guide on Instructrables featuring loads of soft circuit and wearable electronic project how-tos. Featured over and over (and over again) is Hannah Perner-Wilson aka Plusea, who has been on a role churning out the coolest projects and best tutorials on the subject for the last year.

In the Maker Shed:

Lilypad E-Sewing Kit

March 3, 2009

Felt Kokeshi-Doll Speakers

The fabulous Lisa Katayama points to these adorable felt speakers on her equally fabulous TokyoMango blog. Whether they're Russian stacking dolls or Kokeshi, they definitely seem like something you crafty, techno-savvy readers could easily re-create at home. Send us some photos if you do, or post them in the Craft Flickr pool.

February 27, 2009

Small Japanese Soft Circuits Kit

I had never thought about using needle felting with soft circuits but Yoshida Tomofumi has! She makes and sells these small kits with LEDs, conductive thread, battery and a snap. I love the little tail-biting snake! If you're looking for a stateside kit like this, try my similar kit or the Sparkfun e-sewing kit. Via Fashioning Technology.

February 23, 2009

Electronic Embroidery/Sewing Kit

After I wrote the Electronic Embroidery article for CRAFT, Vol. 9, I had readers emailing me asking where they could get their hands on small quantities of the supplies needed to embellish their wearables and wall hangings with light. The Sparkfun E-sewing kit is great if you want a whole spool of conductive thread, but for those of you just curious to try out the materials on a smaller scale, I've put together this kit of materials for sale on Etsy:

1 sewable battery holder
1 CR2032 coincell battery
4.5 feet of conductive thread (enough for one or two projects)
2 5mm LEDs (your choice of yellow, red, green, blue, or white, or a combination thereof)
1 metal snap for creating a switch

More:

Electronic Embroidery - CRAFT Video Podcast

From the pages of CRAFT, Vol. 09:

"Electronic Embroidery" by Becky Stern, pgs 117-119. View now in our Digital Edition or by the back issue in the Maker Shed.

February 13, 2009

Soft Circuit Workshop in LA

Syuzi Pakhchyan, author of Fashioning Technology, will be hosting a soft circuit workshop in Los Angeles on February 22!

The first half of the workshop will be an overview of different conductive textiles and threads available commercially as well as a demo of a variety of soft switches, sensors and controls. For the second part of the workshop, we will be deconstructing an electronic toy and using it to create a wearable. The wearable will be constructed using soft circuit techniques introduced earlier in the class. The class should be casual and fun. Sunday, February 22nd, 11-4pm

Soft Circuits Workshop
Sunday, February 22nd, 11-4pm
972B Chung King Road
Limit: 12 people
Fee: $50
Material Requirements: Simple Electronic Toy, Garment (T-shirt, Sweatshirt, etc) for wearable

From the Maker Shed:

Fashioning Technology Cover

Buy Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakhchyan in the Maker Shed today!

This book demonstrates how to blend sewing and assembly techniques with traditional electronics to assemble simple circuits using conductive thread, solder joints for snaps, and switches for buttons. With the sewing machine as a viable substitute for the soldering iron, you can craft a new generation of objects that are interactive, quirky, and fashion-conscious.

February 11, 2009

Electro-modded Backpack

This backpack has me majorly crushing:

Bet you've never seen anything like this before though, huh? Side pouches on my bookbag were a bit dull... so, the one I keep my water in now has a switch to make the water glow, and the other side has an Atari Punk Console housed in it.

The LEDs under the water bottle holder is just so clever! Personally I think all infrequently washed wearables should contain LEDs. Via Collin @ MAKE.

< Previous | Soft Circuits Home

Craft:

CRAFT Video: Color Changing LED Brooch

Wearable Technology At ITP

Incredible Electronic Dress

Fabric Bend Sensor Kit

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino Blinking Bike Patch

LilyPad Arduino Workshop in Berkeley This Summer

Touch Sensitive LilyPad Arduino Hoodie

CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101

Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: The Fashion Show Night

Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: Designing Fashion with Electronics

How-To: Wind Conductive Threads Together

Soft Tilt-Sensing Bracelet

Soft Pressure Sensor Matrix

Soft Circuit Guide on Instructables

Felt Kokeshi-Doll Speakers

Small Japanese Soft Circuits Kit

Electronic Embroidery/Sewing Kit

Soft Circuit Workshop in LA

Electro-modded Backpack

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