Wearables?! Lilypad

J. A. Streich

I noticed that Sparkfun collaborated with a graduate student from Colorado to make boards that can be sewn onto fabric, and even washed (when you take the battery out). I was wondering if anyone at Parallax or any of the Parallax community have developed similar boards for either the Basic Stamp, SX or Propeller.

If not any ideas of what special things you need to take into consideration to stop the device from being damaged by water when un-powered. I suppose the main consern is the solder and copper rusting...

MarkS

It looks to me to be one of those artsy things that only the "intelligent few" get and the rest of us are idiots. I see no potential or benefit in this.

Franklin

MarkS, you shouldn't put yourself down like that

and the rest of us are idiots

I'm sure you have your good points and can still be a valuable addition to our society.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- Stephen

J. A. Streich

My interest in it is anything but artsy. My interest is making a less obtrusive and less obvious wearable similar to MIT's Mithreal and other mediated reality technologies. The current solutions are still needlessly bulky, and you need to take all the electronics off before you can wash them.

Also, roll-able or bendable input devices with water resistant fabric outsides would allow for more portable full sized keyboards or "tablets."

I see lots of applications, but doing some research, I just found that it's not hard to make "iron on" circuit boards. In fact this seems it may even be easier and cheaper than printed circuit boards.

SRLM

For protection agaist water the best solution would probably be a coating or film over everything. If you find something that you can spray on, then you could simply isolate the electronic components. Just make sure the film isn't conductive...

Franklin

It's called conformal coating and you can get it in a spray, liquid or gel.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- Stephen

jazzed

Old style conformal coating cracked ... how long will the new stuff last?

It's probably best to make sure all components are washable anyway ... no microphones, paper speakers, trimpots, etc.... Even components specified as "washable" might not survive too many cycles. Also, I hear stuff bumping in my dryer all the time, so a bright sunny day and a clothes line might be best for that.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

SRLM

Thanks for the keywords Franklin. This stuff (http://www.pemro.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=CHM-1025) seems like it would last longer than the wearer in an environmental situation...

J. A. Streich

A little more research:

Using silver or stainless steel thread works for the connections, coving it with "puffy paint" or iron on transfer to insulate it works according to some researdh I've read.
Solder joints they used a plastic resin on, and it works -- sorta -- but isn't very flexible. If that spray works even for a single washing, I could see spraying the board between washes if it does crack.
I've heard the recommendation of using sockets for larger and more expensive chips, and I suppose you could remove somethings before washing -- but that seems like cop out to me.

I wonder if the outside was made out wet-suit (or dry-suit) materials like closed-cell foam neoprene, and were coated with conformal coating, if that would be enough so they could withstand repeated washing and drying.

Steel

I don't think the arduino boards are any benefit over just making a pcb (which doesn't need to be oval) and coating it yourself. I have seen the lillypad stuff and I guess I just never understood the point...