Wearable technology
A collection of resources collated for the Design and Technology , to support teaching about wearable technology.
Open Softwear: Fashionable Prototyping and Wearable Computing Using the Arduino
This guide is suitable to support a full introductory wearable-technology project using Arduino. It gives an overview of the Arduino system as well as the key terms surrounding ‘making’ and ‘hacking’. After a brief review of basic electrical theory, a closer look at the inputs and outputs of a basic board, and of the Lilypad and Mini Arduino boards, is presented along with information about common components such as LEDs and LDRs.
Little big futures Design and Technology
What is the Internet of Things (IoT) and how can it help firefighting in the future? These activities explore how design can improve the equipment that fire fighters use, improving safety for both the general public and the fire fighters themselves. The lesson explores technology that firefighters could operate or wear, with an extension activity to design their own device.
Wearing Electronics
This Catalyst article investigates how polymer materials can be designed and printed with electrical properties that allow them to be used in wearable electronic devices. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2.
e-Textiles in a Box
This professional development resource provides teachers with the basic knowledge to deliver an e-textiles project in the classroom. The four lessons of varying duration cover:
• basic electronics with batteries and LEDs
• Using craft techniques to create wearable electronics
• Introductory programming with Arduino
The project serves as an adequate introduction to Arduino for novices. It explains the structure of an Arduino program including initialisation and the loop section. Variables are declared and used in programs, and a range of errors are understood and debugged.
Etextile project ideas
A collection of resources published by Kitronik, bringing electrical circuits into textile based products.
High Tech Textiles Project
This resource provides several textiles projects which use high tech materials and electronics.
- Cool Britannia: How to make an insulated lunch box to keep food hot or cold.
- Wash time fun: Create oilcloth fabric from any material using a high tech clear coating called lamifix. This is useful for making wash bags and make up bags, or any wipable product
- Safety in the sun: A child’s baseball cap incorporating solar reactive threads and beads
- Stargazing: Create a child’s moon and stars cushion using phosphorescent dye and reflective tape.
- Fun with electronics: Using LED bulbs and specialist metal thread, this project uses up scrap fabrics to create a light up door hanger and booklight.
- Socky reading light: How to make a basic electronic circuit using a cell holder, LED light and conductive thread.
What is the clothing of the future: SMART wearables & e-textiles
Youtube video: "he idea of creating smart clothing was first prompted by the science fiction but even experts didn’t expect the e-textile revolution to start to fast and progress so rapidly. Nowadays smart clothing is used to encase wearable technology and provide the user with new, unseen before capabilities and functionality. There are many working prototypes and startups, which are aimed at redefining the fashion industry."
Heart Rate Monitor
In this challenge, students are asked to consider the impact of people suffering from heart conditions, both to the individual and to wider society. They then generate ideas for using programmable systems to improve people’s health, and to monitor themselves.
Modern materials: E-Textiles
This resources provides a space themed introduction to the topic of E-textiles. It looks at some of the technologies used, provides examples of products that are made possible by E-textiles and provides some hands-on examples of how you can bring E0textiles into your classroom.
