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Woven smart textiles are useful in creating flexible electronics because they integrate circuitry into the structure of the fabric itself. However, there do not yet exist tools that support the specific needs of smart textiles weavers. This paper describes the process and development of AdaCAD, an application for composing smart textile weave drafts. By augmenting traditional weaving drafts, AdaCAD allows weavers to design woven structures and circuitry in tandem and offers specific support for common smart textiles techniques. We describe these techniques, how our tool supports them alongside feedback from smart textiles weavers. We conclude with a reflection on smart textiles practice more broadly and suggest that the metaphor of coproduction can be fruitful in creating effective tools and envisioning future applications in this space.
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Exploring a Software Tool for Biofibers Design
The Biofibers Spinning Machine produces bio-based fibers (biofibers) that are dissolvable and biodegradable. These fibers enable recycling of smart textiles by making it easy to separate electronics from textiles. Currently, prototyping with the machine requires the use of low-level commands, i.e. G-code. To enable more people to participate in the sustainable smart textiles design space and develop new biofiber materials, we need to provide accessible tools and workflows. This work explores a software tool that facilitates material exploration with machine parameters. We describe the interface design and demonstrate using the tool to quantify the relationship between machine parameters and spun gelatin biofibers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2413631
- PAR ID:
- 10617818
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400707186
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 3
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- sustainable smart textiles exploratory digital fabrication
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Pittsburgh, PA USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3672539.3686317
