Wearable Circuit Advice

General project help for Adafruit customers

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
sero
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:00 pm

Wearable Circuit Advice

Post by sero »

Hey all, I'm totally new to wearables and generally building circuits without breadboards and was looking for some advice!

I'm working on a tactile feedback compass belt, inspired by http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... /?ALLSTEPS. I've got the circuit prototyped on a breadboard and working totally fine, but I'm a bit stumped about how to actually get it onto a cloth belt.

The motor circuit uses five discrete components besides the motor itself (see http://learningaboutelectronics.com/ima ... rduino.png), and there are 8 motor assemblies. I started by trying to just solder some of the components together:

Image

That soldering job is a bit of a travesty and I feel like there's got to be a better way, especially since the motors I have can be sewn in with conductive thread. Any advice on handling these discrete components like capacitors and transistors in wearable circuits?

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Wearable Circuit Advice

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

What you're doing is called 'freeforming', which is more of an art than a science.

The assembly in the picture above isn't bad. All it needs to be a showpiece is a bit of fit and polish.

Some freeform circuits are built on a framework of heavy wire that provides structural strength:

http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/10/ ... d-bug-art/
FreeformSMDlittlewire.jpg
FreeformSMDlittlewire.jpg (107.55 KiB) Viewed 434 times
while others go as small as they can:

http://make.kosakalab.com/arduino/obaka ... ex_en.html
one_chip_arduino.jpg
one_chip_arduino.jpg (242.13 KiB) Viewed 434 times
The main thing you need in freeforming is confidence. Start by giving yourself permission to do it, then bend wire like you mean it:

http://runawaybrainz.blogspot.com/2012/ ... phone.html
IMG_1751 (Large).JPG
IMG_1751 (Large).JPG (46.66 KiB) Viewed 434 times

User avatar
sero
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Wearable Circuit Advice

Post by sero »

Ha, thanks for the great reply Mike, I didn't realize that was a thing :) I'll have to get a file and some helping hands to nicen these soldering jobs up.

While I can see the appear/artsiness of freeforming, do you have any suggestions for getting this stuff onto a cloth belt (cloth basically just meaning I can stitch onto it) more practically? I mean worst case I'll just freeform 8 motor assemblies and sew them in with some normal thread, but given how much harder it is to solder these small components together, at least compared to soldering on a PCB, I figured there might be a easier, more practical way.

I think I want something like a flexible breadboard, but I haven't seen much like that for sale.

User avatar
sero
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Wearable Circuit Advice

Post by sero »

Woah woah woah, just found https://www.adafruit.com/products/1518 which looks like it might be perfect for what I want!

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Wearable Circuit Advice

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

sero wrote:Ha, thanks for the great reply Mike, I didn't realize that was a thing :) I'll have to get a file and some helping hands to nicen these soldering jobs up.
A piece of wood/hardboard and some pins/brads/nails are handy too. You can make wire-bending jigs that produce identical shapes easily, and fixtures that hold pieces in position relative to each other while you solder them.

Don't worry about cutting wires to length until you get them soldered in place. The secret to placing 1/4" connections perfectly is the 4" that you use as a handle then clip away.
sero wrote:While I can see the appear/artsiness of freeforming, do you have any suggestions for getting this stuff onto a cloth belt (cloth basically just meaning I can stitch onto it) more practically?
We have a whole range of wearable materials here: https://www.adafruit.com/categories/190 .. conductive thread, ribbon, and fabric, raw flex PCB material, etc.

Also check out all the tutorials over in the Learning System by our wearables expert Becky Stern: https://learn.adafruit.com/users/bekathwia

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “General Project help”