Wearable Electronics 

Report submitted by - Kartik Hans(2016EE30530) 

 
Table of Content 
A. Introduction 
B. Objective 
C. Different Techniques/Applications 
D. Discussion 
E. Future Outlook 
F. References 
 
A. Introduction - ​There are various electronic technology used products which can be 
used to make products which further can be used to wear and used for the 
betterment of society as a whole. Wearable Electronics are classified on the basis 
of their proximity to the human body, appearance, function, and other parameters. 
SmartWatch, Smarteyewear, Fitness Tracker, Smart Clothing, Wearable camera, 
Wearable medical device, etc. are different fields of products on the basis of the 
above classification. Since these electronics are wearable, we have to take care of 
their rigidness since the human body is soft and curvy. Circuits are the heart of 
electronics, therefore we need to design these circuits which are flexible, and keep 
functioning optimally. A lot of research went and still going in the field of electronic 
textiles to form material which can be used to make stretchable circuits are flexible 
and malleable. MC10 and MulTek are some of the materials which understood the 
challenge and helped in the progress of the electronic textile industry with a big 
gradient. These are extremely stretchable electronics and can be used to build rigid 
and stretchable products especially like textiles. Flexible electronics could 
transform the way we make and use electronic devices. It opens the door to 
foldable smartphone displays, solar cells on a roll of plastic, etc.. Due to the fact 
that these devices are more shock-resistant, cost-effective to manufacture, and 
can be flexed or bent, they have the capability of being integrated into portable 
devices, clothing, and packaging materials. 
B. Objective - ​The fundamental aim of using Electronic textiles is to enhance the 
functionality of textile products, so the everyday products which we use become 
more intelligent and make life easier. The concept of Electronic circuits using 
electronic textiles was first invented in the lab of Georgia tech college US in 1998. 
Yarn built with stainless steel was woven to produce a fabric with a data bus, to 
which PCB electronics could be installed at different positions. The E-textiles can 
be used in manufacturing more reliable military equipment, it has applications in 
the Mining Industry and a lot of other industries as well. The future designing 
 Electronic textiles is focused on combining high electronics with lightweight and 
comfort in textiles. A newly emerging field of textile Nanotechnology can be used 
to enrich the soldier’s endurance, communication capabilities, and performance. In 
this report, various applications of E-Textiles in the military and mining have been 
mentioned and elaborated. 
C. Different Sensors and Electronics used in manufacturing Sensors -  
1. Environmental Sensors - ​These sensors are used to measure, monitor, and record 
environmental conditions or properties such as barometric pressure, relative 
humidity, luminosity, temperature, dust, and water level. The sound sensors can be 
used to determine the sound intensity of the environment, further, these sound 
sensors come in different categories like condensers, ribbons, carbon, and dynamic 
microphones. In E-textiles dynamic microphones is being used because it measure 
noise in decibels range which is same as human measurable. Humidity sensors are 
used to measure the humidity in nature, and flames sensors are used to detect the 
fire or open flames, the flames sensors are more capable of sensing fire than 
commonly used smoke or heat detectors. Light sensors are used to detect the 
intensity of light at a place, its use is widespread in scientific application and 
everyday consumer products. 
2. BioSensors​ - The demand for biosensors in the market has increased with people 
becoming more health-conscious. That’s why the sale of biosensors is more in 
developed countries than in developing countries. These sensors help people get 
aware of their health status at any point in time and can be used by health 
professionals in the early diagnosis and prevention of disease. The consumer used 
these sensors to detect the body temperature, electroencephalography(EEG), 
heart-rate monitoring sensor, electromyography(EMG), Electrocardiogram(ECG), 
glucose, and Blood pressure sensors. 
Heart-rate-sensor can be used to detect the electrical activity of heart and is 
intended for use in amplifying, extracting, and filtering bio-potential to generate 
the heart rate. 
3. Position-and-location tracking sensors​ - These are mostly used sensors in 
manufacturing wearable electronics. They have widespread use in these devices 
activity trackers, smartwatches, and even medical wearables where they can be 
used to monitor the physical activity and health of the patients. A GPS device is 
comprised of a 3-axis sensor used in spatial navigation that can give real-time data 
of location, altitude, and speed at any time and in almost every weather condition. 
A GPS doesn’t work properly indoors since it always needs to get good signals and 
indoors give hindrance to the signal. That’s why they can’t be widely used in mining 
but still, they hold a good use in many activities related to mining. Like 
magnetometer can be used to detect the ferrous metals, and it can be used for 
 tracking metallic vehicles and human body motions(when used with the help of 
accelerometer and /or smartphones) 
 
D. Applications -  
Application of e-Textiles in military Hardware 
The Inner garments and body armor worn by the soldiers can be manufactured with the 
help of integrated electronic, sensors, computing, and communication devices so that 
these garments could become smart and have a tendency to react automatically to 
various stimuli from the environment. Various methods such as weaving, knitting, and 
embroidering can be used for the incorporation of sensors and circuitry into the fabric. 
For example, the simplest plain-weave structure can include individually addressable 
insulated metal filaments, which can be used as basic transmission lines or whole circuits. 
Data collected from sensors may need to be transmitted to a command post wirelessly or 
by other means. 
E-textiles for sensing the environment 
To carry the signal in the fabrics, conductive metal or polymeric fibres need to be 
embedded in them which are designed with the help of sensors that stimuli to various 
input parameters such as movement, light, sound, and chemicals, also to certain liquid 
vapors and gases in the environment. These sensors are classified as light sensors, motor 
sensors, heat sensors, etc. 
Example - The environment sensor can be used to detect the closeness of enemies or 
potential biochemical threats. Some other sensors can also be used to detect blast 
situations and report if there are any health risks associated with it. Conductive woven 
can be used with embedded button-sized microphones to identify the remote object’s 
sound such as approaching vehicles that have been reported. A microcontroller is further 
used to detect the direction of the sound coming out of these potential threats. 
E-textiles for camouflaging 
Electronic-textiles can be incorporated in the construction of camouflage outfits with 
chameleonlike properties. The clothing could change its color, for example, when a soldier 
walks from a desert to a city area. Similarly, the clothing color could change according to 
the time of day or other environmental factors. This can be done by the combination of 
e-textiles and shape-memory materials. Much research has not been done in this area. In 
the future, on the battlefield military vehicles may be able to change their colors using 
active chemical agents or biological molecules ( found in octopus skin) with the use of 
high-speed electric pulses produced by sensors. This method can assist the vehicle to gain 
color similar to the environment. The advancement of technology can help accomplish 
camouflage with the use of sensor fabrics. 
E-textiles for position detection 
The sensors used for monitoring the movement and position of soldiers are based on 
MEMS accelerometers, GPS, and gyroscopes​. ​The mounting of these devices on soft 
structures requires optimization for proper functioning, robustness, and comfort. The 
exact location of soldiers can be traced and displayed by a GUI(Graphical user interface), 
such as that based on Google Earth. The sensors can also be fit in the soldier’s boots to 
detect their position and measure their movement. 
Difficulties in designing e-textiles for military use 
Many difficulties, such as Performance, the functionality of uniforms, comfort, 
manufacturing cost 
in selected applications, and the power consumption related to the design of military 
e-textiles, may be expected. There can be other difficulties, such as Software execution, 
storage of the uniforms, maintenance, and networking. Some of the major problems are 
discussed in the following sections. 
Comfort -  
Comfort should also be not compromised while designing the new textile products, the 
mobility of the soldier plays a huge role in the battle, and we have to take care of the 
Thermal comfort, tactile comfort, and mobility. 
Thermal comfort 
In order to accomplish the fancied level of performance, the thickness of the fabrics 
should be high. The increased thickness and bulk of body armor degrade the level of 
thermal comfort. However, the performance of E-textile in these situations for ballistic 
protection is still an essential priority. 
Tactile comfort 
While integrating electronic components, actuators, and sensors into military textiles, one 
should take care of the rigidness and tidiness of these components. These components 
should not irritate the skin or create any sort of tactile discomfort. This can eventually 
affect soldiers’ ability to being focused on his duty or may result in rejection of the 
clothing. Putting the sensors and actuators at inappropriate positions can create hurdles 
like these. 
Limited mobility 
The union of electronics at different locations of military cloths can result in making these 
clothes stiffer and bulky. Later, they can create resistance in the movement of body parts 
of soldiers, and hence performance. One should take care to incorporate these electronic 
elements in a way, that the location where these Electronics are installed shouldn’t create 
an obstruction in the mobility of the body parts. The desired location can be, upper back, 
shoulders, abdomen, or depending on the battle conditions and the combat tools to be 
used during the war. 
 
 
Application in Mining -  
Vendrico Solution Inc. a company based in Canada has developed a device similar to 
google glass for mining workers. The company is very positive about their product and 
says that it will improve the efficiency and safety of works in hard rock mining. The smart 
eyewear has features like workers can do time management for controlling mining 
equipment, free access to the most commonly accessed information and production 
process control, and monitoring. The technology which they are using to provide all these 
features to the workers is GPS, they are taking the use GPS to detect the location of 
equipment and workers and by using min path algorithms of Computer science saving the 
time of workers and improving the efficiency of workers. 
 
Delliote wearable is another Canadian company, which is also working on a product for 
mining workers. Their product is more focused on enhancing the safety of workers. The 
product can get attached to the front or back of the miner’s helmet. The device has 
sensors installed in it, which can detect the presence of hazardous gases in the air, 
radiation is too installed in the device to detect the radiation, temperature and humidity 
sensor is also present in the device. It gives the color code of red to yellow for emergency 
situations, it has a very improved communication system which enables the manager and 
company head to know these emergency calls and enables them to communicate with 
workers at the same time. The tracker system emits a frequency of a particular frequency 
that gets caught by the manager outside and helps in detecting the locations of mine 
workers. 
 
Fibre Electronics Technology 
The clothing manufacturing happens to be in the following stages:- 
- Fiber assembling process. 
- Yarn assembling process. 
- Fabric coloration and finishing process. 
- Fabric assembling process. 
The Chip encapsulation technique -  
Under this technique, the semiconductor chips(packaged dice) is installed inside a bundle 
of fibers in a way in which the semiconductor chips are protected from all forms of 
thermal, mechanical and pressure forces. Under this technique, we place the sensor at 
different locations of the fiber. 
 
There are 2 possible approaches that can be used for creating the ECA(​Encapsulated 
Chip Area). In the first one, we tie the filament fibers to a flexible polymeric resin to 
natively seal off the chip area. In the second method, we use a technique called 
side-by-side thermal bonding process, which blocks the filament fibers from all 
directions, resulting in sealing off the chip area. The functionality of the ECA 
depends on multiple individual properties of the components their relative 
proportions, the degree of homogeneity, the properties of the interface between 
the components, and the rate of solidification of each component. The ECA’s gets 
installed at different location maintaining the gap in between any two installed 
locations as shown. 

 
 
Discussion/Conclusion 
The Growth of Electronic textiles in the textile industry seems to be very strong 
and promising, but at this moment, many techniques arbitrate the process of 
performance and production of the textiles. The main aim is to facilitate the 
manufacture of a new Gen. wearable electronic systems by integrating electronics 
into the textiles at the yarn production stage. The textile property of 
conformability and durability will be retained by fully integrating with E-textiles. 
The daily research and new emerging technology in the field will provide new 
products in the new application areas. The technology will be upgraded in its class 
and will offer economic benefits to both(consumers as well as to industry) 
 
The application of electronic textiles has been seen very fruitful for the 
modification of the military system. Intensive research and development are 
needed for mass applications with a range of functionalities as well as for ballistic 
protection. The upcoming generation of military textiles would need a skillful 
amalgamation of textiles, electronics, and computing. As the functionality of the 
military suits and equipment is getting enhanced by using E-textiles smart and 
efficient power supplies will be needed to keep them operational. The challenges 
involved are not only in the production processes but also in maintaining the 
integrity of the e-textile structures during use to withstand laundering, bending, 
and flexing. We mentioned and explained how the use of protective textiles with 
multiple functionalities can lower down the attentiveness and ability of soldiers to 
perceive various dangers, which may lead to more risks than can be justified by the 
acquired benefits. Therefore, while designing uniforms and other equipment for 
the military by integrating e-textiles, care should be taken that these don’t lack the 
cognitive performance of soldiers, rather, they should improve it.  
 
Future Outlook 
Future perspective Wearable electronics 
1. Compact​ - Acc. to Moore’s law, the density of transistor on same surface 
volume get double in every 18 months, which illustrate that the Electronic 
circuits are going to compact in size. Companies like AiQ Clothing, Hexoskin, 
and OMsignal are already paving the way with biometric garments that 
measure body vitals. Future wearables could be more hidden by adding a 
thin film inside your favorite jewelry to measure biometric data, activity 
levels, and even let you know when you’ve been typing at a keyboard too 
long. 
2. Efficient​ - Substitute forms of energy are being used to power electronic 
devices all around the globe. Tommy Hilfiger has launched clothing with 
solar cells to charge devices in Dec 2014. Peltier Ring by Sean Hodgins built 
technology in which body heat can be used to power small LED lights on a 
ring. While energy advancements require more polish to achieve commercial 
viability, they’ll be on your wrist sooner than you think. 
3. The Public and Personal Safety:​ Putting these sensors and real-time data 
extracting into the body is very vulnerable to cyber-attacks and one can put 
his own safety in danger as well by wearing these devices on him. But in 
many ways, it can also provide safety to society. For example, in the coming 
future, the biosensors can get installed into the electronic devices, brain 
activities too being monitor via these sensors. These devices may be 
necessary for the current and/or potential criminals. When these criminals 
will try or intend to commit a crime, the sensors will send the signal to the 
authority, and crime could be stopped. Thus this system can help in reducing 
the crime rate. 
 
 
 
 
 
References:-  
1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B97800810020180001
26 
2) https://www.wired.com/insights/2015/02/the-future-of-wearable-tech/ 
3) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gch2.201900092 
4) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B97800810020180000
60 
5) Books - Smart Fabrics and Wearable Technology - by Tilak Dias. 
- This book contains many articles related to Electronic Textiles. 
6) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275580004_WEARABLE_TECH
NOLOGIES_AND_ITS_FUTURE_APPLICATIONS 
7)