E textiles

E-textiles, also known as electronic textiles, smart textiles, or smart fabrics, are fabrics that enable digital components (including small computers), and electronics to be embedded in them. Much intelligent clothing, smart clothing, wearable technology, and wearable computing projects involve the use of e-textiles.

Electronic textiles are distinct from wearable computing because the emphasis is placed on the seamless integration of textiles with electronic elements like microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators. Furthermore, e-textiles need not be wearable. For instance, e-textiles are also found in interior design.

The related field of fibertronics explores how electronic and computational functionality can be integrated into textile fibers.


History

The basic materials needed to construct e-textiles, conductive threads and fabrics have been around for over 1000 years. In particular, artisans have been wrapping fine metal foils, most often gold and silver, around fabric threads for centuries. At the end of the 19th century, as people developed and grew accustomed to electric appliances, designers and engineers began to combine electricity with clothing and jewelry developing a series of illuminated and motorized necklaces, hats, broaches, and costumes. For example, in the late 1800s, a person could hire young women adorned in light-studded evening gowns from the Electric Girl Lighting Company to provide cocktail party entertainment.

In 1968, the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York City held a groundbreaking exhibition called Body Covering that focused on the relationship between technology and apparel. The show featured astronauts space suits along with clothing that could inflate and deflate, light up, and heat and cool itself. Particularly noteworthy in this collection was the work of Diana Dew, a designer who created a line of electronic fashion, including electroluminescent party dresses and belts that could sound alarmed sirens.

In 1985, an inventor by the name of Harry Wainwright created the first fully animated sweatshirt consisting of fiber optics, LEDs, and a microprocessor to control individual frames of animation resulting in a full-color cartoon on the surface of apparel. Wainwright went on to invent the first machine in 1995 enabling fiber optics to be machined into fabrics, the process needed for manufacturing enough for mass markets and hired a German machine designer, Herbert Selbach, from Selbach Machinery to produce the world first CNC machine able to automatically implant fiber optics into any flexible material (www.usneedle.com) in 1997. Receiving the first of a dozen patents based on LED/Optic displays and machinery in 1989, the first CNC machines went into production in 1998 beginning with the production of animated coats for Disney Parks in 1998. The first ECG Bio-Physical display jackets employing LED/Optic displays were created by Wainwright and David Bychkov, the CEO of Exmovere.


Uses

Health monitoring of vital signs of the wearer such as heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, activity, and posture.

Sports training data acquisition

Monitoring personnel handling hazardous materials

Tracking the position and status of soldiers in action

Monitoring pilot or truck driver fatigue

Flexible electronics

Flexible electronics, also known as flex circuits, is a technology for assembling electronic circuits by mounting electronic devices on flexible plastic substrates, such as polyimide, PEEK or transparent conductive polyester film. Additionally, flex circuits can be screen printed silver circuits on polyester. Flexible electronic assemblies may be manufactured using identical components used for rigid printed circuit boards, allowing the board to conform to the desired shape, or to flex during its use. These flexible printed circuits (FPC) are made with a photolithographic technology. An alternative way of making flexible foil circuits or flexible flat cables (FFCs) is laminating very thin (0.07 mm) copper strips in between two layers of PET. These PET layers, typically 0.05 mm thick, are coated with an adhesive which is thermosetting and will be activated during the lamination process. FPCs and FFCs have several advantages in many applications:

Tightly assembled electronic packages, where electrical connections are required in 3 axes, such as cameras (static application).

Electrical connections where the assembly is required to flex during its normal use, such as folding cell phones (dynamic application).

Electrical connections between sub-assemblies to replace wire harnesses, which are heavier and bulkier, such as in cars, rockets, and satellites.

Electrical connections where board thickness or space constraints are driving factors.


Advantage of FPC

Ease for manufacturing or assembly

Single-Sided circuits are ideal for dynamic or high-flex applications

Stacked FPCs in various configurations


Applications

Flex circuits are often used as connectors in various applications where flexibility, space savings, or production constraints limit the serviceability of rigid circuit boards or hand wiring. A common application of flex circuits is in computer keyboards; most keyboards use flex circuits for the switch matrix.

In LCD fabrication, glass is used as a substrate. If thin flexible plastic or metal foil is used as the substrate instead, the entire system can be flexible, as the film deposited on top of the substrate is usually very thin, on the order of a few micrometers.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are normally used instead of a back-light for flexible displays, making a flexible organic light-emitting diode display.

Most flexible circuits are passive wiring structures that are used to interconnect electronic components such as integrated circuits, resistor, capacitors and the like, however, some are used only for making interconnections between other electronic assemblies either directly or by means of connectors.

In the automotive field, flexible circuits are used in instrument panels, under-hood controls, circuits to be concealed within the headliner of the cabin, and in ABS systems. In computer peripherals flexible circuits are used on the moving print head of printers, and to connect signals to the moving arm carrying the read/write heads of disk drives. Consumer electronics devices make use of flexible circuits in cameras, personal entertainment devices, calculators, or exercise monitors.

Flexible circuits are found in industrial and medical devices where many interconnections are required in a compact package. Cellular telephones are another widespread example of flexible circuits.


History

Flexible circuits technology has a surprisingly long history. Patents issued at the turn of the 20th century show clear evidence that early researchers were envisioning ways of making flat conductors sandwiched between layers of insulating material to layout electrical circuits to serve in early telephony switching applications. One of the earliest descriptions of what could be called a flex circuit was unearthed by Dr. Ken Gilleo and disclosed in an English patent by Albert Hansen in 1903 where Hansen described a construction consisting of flat metal conductors on paraffin-coated paper. Thomas Edison lab books from the same period also indicate that he was thinking to coat patterns cellulose gum applied to linen paper with graphite powder to create what would have clearly been flexible circuits, though there is no evidence that it was reduced to practice.

Five G

5G (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems) denotes the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards. 5G is also referred to as beyond 2020 mobile communications technologies. 5G does not describe any particular specification in any official document published by any telecommunication standardization body.

Although updated standards that define capabilities beyond those defined in the current 4G standards are under consideration, those new capabilities are still being grouped under the current ITU-T 4G standards.


Background of 5G

A new mobile generation has appeared approximately every 10th year since the first 1G system, Nordic Mobile Telephone, was introduced in 1981. The first 2G system started to roll out in 1991, the first 3G system first appeared in 2001 and 4G systems fully compliant with IMT Advanced were standardized in 2012. The development of the 2G (GSM) and 3G (IMT-2000 and UMTS) standards took about 10 years from the official start of the R&D projects, and development of 4G systems started in 2001 or 2002. Predecessor technologies have occurred on the market a few years before the new mobile generation, for example, the pre-3G system CdmaOne/IS95 in the US in 1995, and the pre-4G systems Mobile WiMAX in South-Korea 2006, and first release-LTE in Scandinavia 2009.

Mobile generations typically refer to non-backward-compatible cellular standards following requirements stated by ITU-R, such as IMT-2000 for 3G and IMT-Advanced for 4G. In parallel with the development of the ITU-R mobile generations, IEEE and other standardization bodies also develop wireless communication technologies, often for higher data rates and higher frequencies but shorter transmission ranges. The first gigabit IEEE standard was IEEE 802.11ac, commercially available since 2013, soon to be followed by the multi-gigabit standard WiGig or IEEE 802.11ad.


History

In 2008, the South Korean IT R&D program of 5G mobile communication systems based on beam-division multiple access and relays with group cooperation was formed.

On 8 October 2012, the UK University of Surrey secured 35M for new 5G research centre, joint funded between the British government UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) and a consortium of key international mobile operators and infrastructure providers -including Huawei, Samsung, Telefonica Europe, Fujitsu Laboratories Europe, Rohde & Schwarz, and Aircom International it will offer testing facilities to mobile operators keen to develop a mobile standard that uses less energy and radio spectrum whilst delivering faster than current 4G speeds, with aspirations for the new technology to be ready within a decade.

In February 2013, ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP 5D) started two study items:

1. Study on IMT Vision for 2020 and beyond

2. Study on future technology trends for terrestrial IMT systems.

Both aiming at having a better understanding of future technical aspects of mobile communications towards the definition of the next generation mobile.

On 12 May 2013, Samsung Electronics stated that they have developed the world first 5G system.

In July 2013, India and Israel have agreed to work jointly on the development of the fifth generation (5G) telecom technologies.

On 1 October 2013, NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), the same company to launch world first 5G network in Japan, wins Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award at CEATEC for 5G R&D efforts.

On 6 November 2013, Huawei announced plans to invest a minimum of $600 million into R&D for next-generation 5G networks capable of speeds 100 times faster than modern LTE networks.

On 8 May 2014, NTT DoCoMo start testing 5G mobile networks with Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia and Samsung.

At the end of September 2014, Dresden university inaugurates a 5G laboratory in partnership with Vodafone.

Humanoid robot

A humanoid robot is a robot with its body shape built to resemble that of the human body. A humanoid design might be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other purposes. In general, humanoid robots have a torso, a head, two arms, and two legs, though some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots may also have heads designed to replicate human facial features such as eyes and mouths. Androids are humanoid robots built to aesthetically resemble humans.


Purpose

Humanoid robots are used as a research tool in several scientific areas.

Researchers need to understand the human body structure and behavior (biomechanics) to build and study humanoid robots. On the other side, the attempt to the simulation of the human body leads to a better understanding of it.

Human cognition is a field of study which is focused on how humans learn from sensory information in order to acquire perceptual and motor skills. This knowledge is used to develop computational models of human behavior and it has been improving over time. It has been suggested that very advanced robotics will facilitate the enhancement of ordinary humans. See transhumanism.

Although the initial aim of humanoid research was to build better orthosis and prosthesis for human beings, knowledge has been transferred between both disciplines. A few examples are powered leg prosthesis for neuromuscularly impaired, ankle-foot orthosis, biological realistic leg prosthesis, and forearm prosthesis. Besides the research, humanoid robots are being developed to perform human tasks like personal assistance, where they should be able to assist the sick and elderly, and dirty or dangerous jobs. Regular jobs like being a receptionist or a worker of an automotive manufacturing line are also suitable for humanoids. In essence, since they can use tools and operate equipment and vehicles designed for the human form, humanoids could theoretically perform any task a human being can, so long as they have the proper software. However, the complexity of doing so is deceptively great.

They are becoming increasingly popular for providing entertainment too. For example, Ursula, a female robot, sings, play music, dances, and speaks to her audiences at Universal Studios. Several Disney attractions employ the use of animation, robots that look, move, and speak much like human beings, in some of their theme park shows. These animations look so realistic that it can be hard to decipher from a distance whether or not they are actually human. Although they have a realistic look, they have no cognition or physical autonomy. Various humanoid robots and their possible applications in daily life are featured in an independent documentary film called Plug & Pray, which was released in 2010. Humanoid robots, especially with artificial intelligence algorithms, could be useful for future dangerous and/or distant space exploration missions, without having the need to turn back around again and return to Earth once the mission is completed.


Sensors

A sensor is a device that measures some attribute of the world. Being one of the three primitives of robotics (besides planning and control), sensing plays an important role in robotic paradigms.

Sensors can be classified according to the physical process with which they work or according to the type of measurement information that they give as output. In this case, the second approach was used.

Machine Vision

Machine vision (MV) is the technology and methods used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance in industry. The scope of MV is broad. MV is related to, though distinct from, computer vision.


Application

The primary uses for machine vision are automatic inspection and industrial robot guidance. Common machine vision applications include quality assurance, sorting, material handling, robot guidance, and optical gauging.

1. For automatic PCB inspection.

2. For wood quality inspection

3. Final inspection of sub-assemblies

4. Engine part inspection

5. Label inspection of products

6. Checking medical devices for defects

7. Final inspection cells

8. Robot guidance and checking orientation of components

9. Packaging Inspection 

10. Medical vial inspection

11. Food pack checks

12. Verifying engineered components


Methods

Machine vision methods are defined as both the process of defining and creating an MV solution and as the technical process that occurs during the operation of the solution. Here the latter is addressed. As of 2006, there was little standardization in the interfacing and configurations used in MV. This includes user interfaces, interfaces for the integration of multi-component systems and automated data interchange. Nonetheless, the first step in the MV sequence of operation is the acquisition of an image, typically using cameras, lenses, and lighting that has been designed to provide the differentiation required by subsequent processing. MV software packages then employ various digital image processing techniques to extract the required information and often make decisions (such as pass/fail) based on the extracted information.


Imaging

While conventional (2D visible light) imaging is most commonly used in MV, alternatives include imaging various infrared bands, line scan imaging, 3D imaging of surfaces and X-ray imaging. Key divisions within MV 2D visible light imaging are monochromatic vs. color, resolution, and whether or not the imaging process is simultaneous over the entire image, making it suitable for moving processes. The most commonly used method for 3D imaging is scanning based triangulation which utilizes motion of the product or image during the imaging process. Other 3D methods used for machine vision are a time of flight, grid-based and stereoscopic.

The imaging device (e.g. camera) can either be separate from the main image processing unit or combined with it in which case the combination is generally called a smart camera or smart sensor. When separated, the connection may be made to specialized intermediate hardware, a frame grabber using either a standardized (Camera Link, CoaXPress) or custom interface. MV implementations also have used digital cameras capable of direct connections (without a frame grabber) to a computer via FireWire, USB or Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.

Molecular electronics

Molecular electronics is the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. It is an interdisciplinary area that spans physics, chemistry, and materials science. The unifying feature is the use of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. Due to the prospect of size reduction in electronics offered by molecular-level control of properties, molecular electronics has generated much excitement. Molecular electronics provides a potential means to extend Moore Law beyond the foreseen limits of small-scale conventional silicon integrated circuits.


Molecular scale electronics

Molecular scale electronics, also called single-molecule electronics, is a branch of nanotechnology that uses single molecules, or nanoscale collections of single molecules, as electronic components. Because single molecules constitute the smallest stable structures possible, this miniaturization is the ultimate goal for shrinking electrical circuits.

Conventional electronic devices are traditionally made from bulk materials. The bulk approach has inherent limitations in addition to becoming increasingly demanding and expensive. Thus, the idea was born that the components could instead be built up atom for atom in a chemistry lab (bottom-up) as opposed to carving them out of bulk material (top-down). In single molecule electronics, the bulk material is replaced by single molecules. That is, instead of creating structures by removing or applying material after a pattern scaffold, the atoms are put together in a chemistry lab. The molecules utilized have properties that resemble traditional electronic components such as a wire, transistor or rectifier.

Single molecule electronics is an emerging field, and entire electronic circuits consisting exclusively of molecular-sized compounds are still very far from being realized. However, the continuous demand for more computing power together with the inherent limitations of the present day lithographic methods make the transition seem unavoidable. Currently, the focus is on discovering molecules with interesting properties and on finding ways of obtaining reliable and reproducible contacts between the molecular components and the bulk material of the electrodes.

Molecular electronics operates in the quantum realm of distances less than 100 nanometers. Miniaturization down to single molecules brings the scale down to a regime where quantum effects are important. As opposed to the case in conventional electronic components, where electrons can be filled in or drawn out more or less like a continuous flow of charge, the transfer of a single electron alters the system significantly. The significant amount of energy due to charging has to be taken into account when making calculations about the electronic properties of the setup and is highly sensitive to distances to conducting surfaces nearby.

One of the biggest problems with measuring on single molecules is to establish reproducible electrical contact with only one molecule and doing so without shortcutting the electrodes. Because the current photolithographic technology is unable to produce electrode gaps small enough to contact both ends of the molecules tested (in the order of nanometers) alternative strategies are put into use. These include molecular-sized gaps called break junctions, in which a thin electrode is stretched until it breaks. Another method is to use the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to contact molecules adhered at the other end to a metal substrate.

Near field Communication

Near-field (or nearfield) communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and other mobile devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters.

Current NFC systems use a radio frequency of 13.56 MHz, corresponding to a wavelength of 22.11 m. To efficiently generate a far-field, which means to send out radio waves of this wavelength, one typically needs an antenna of a quarter wavelength, in practice a meter or more. If the antenna is just a few centimeters long, it will only set up the so-called near-field around itself, with length, width, and depth of the field roughly the same as the dimensions of the antenna. Very little energy will radiate away, it is essentially a stationary electromagnetic field pulsating at 13.56 MHz. If you bring another similarly small antenna into this field, you will induce an electric potential into it, alternating at the said frequency. By modulating the signal in the active antenna, one can, of course, transmit a signal to the passive, receiving antenna. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a tag.


Uses

NFC builds upon RFID systems by allowing two-way communication between endpoints, where earlier systems such as contactless smart cards were one-way only. It has been used in devices such as Google Nexus, running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, named with a feature called Android Beam which was first introduced in Google Nexus.


Social networking

NFC can be used in social networking situations, such as sharing contacts, photos, videos or files, and entering multiplayer mobile games.


Commerce

NFC devices can be used in contactless payment systems, similar to those currently used in credit cards and electronic ticket smartcards, and allow mobile payment to replace or supplement these systems.

With the release of Android 4.4, Google introduced new platform support for secure NFC-based transactions through Host Card Emulation (HCE), for payments, loyalty programs, card access, transit passes, and other custom services. With HCE, any app on an Android 4.4 device can emulate an NFC smart card, letting users tap to initiate transactions with an app of their choice. Apps can also use a new Reader Mode so as to act as readers for HCE cards and other NFC-based transactions.

On September 9, 2014, Apple also announced support for NFC-powered transactions as part of their Apple Pay program.