TEXTILE PRESSURE SENSOR FOR GARMENT FIT ANALYSIS

BY, T.KANNIAN M.KUMAR PSG COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
In healthcare and sports, pressure sensors embedded in shoes enable the analysis of gait. To prevent pressure sores (decubitus), which frequently attack bedridden or handicapped people, pressure sensors can supervise vulnerable body regions allowing the timely feedback to the wearer. Rehabilitation, e.g. after a stroke, requires the controlled motion of limbs; pressure sensors attached to the corresponding muscles monitor their activities and behavior.

Limitations..
The sensors used before are force sensitive foil sensors that have

a certain stiffness and could therefore affect the comfort of the wearer
negatively. If wiring to the sensor is integrated into the textile with conductive yarn, the resistance of this yarn has a direct impact on the measurement of a resistive sensor. This resistance is often not stable because of temperature changes or deformations of the material due to aging effects. Random spatial arrangements of conductive particles in resistive textile sensors also cause low accuracy.

CAPACITIVE SENSORS

SENSOR DESIGN

Construction of sensor with one sensing element. 1, 3: Top and bottom electrode of conductive textile, 2: Two layers of compressible spacer, 4: Shielding

Capacitance Measurement
Measurement Electronics
To measure the capacitance of the textile electrodes, the CHEN HWA
1061 LCZ meter is used, which measures the capacitance in pF from the frequency 0.01 kHz to 200 kHz with the accuracy range of 0.0000.

Capacitance has been measured at the pressure range from 0 to 1000

grams force / 4 cm2 at frequent rate of 50 grams force /4 cm2 at 40 kHz. There is no fluctuation in measuring capacitance (pF) values. The measured capacitance of a single electrode of the prototype with the textile spacer varies from 2.103 pF uncompressed to 5.834 pF at a pressure of 0 to 1000 grams force / 4 cm2 for the textile spacer with 6 mm thickness.

Cont.
The inactive electrodes and the shielding layers on both sides of the sensor are connected to ground so that the active one is surrounded by a ground-shield.

If the adjacent elements of the active electrode are not grounded,

crosstalk between these elements and their wiring caused errors above 20%.

With

capacitive

sensors,

changing

parasitic

capacitance

and

resistance can be compensated by the electronics, therefore wiring has a marginal influence on the sensed signal. With todays electronics, capacitance measurements are as simple as resistance measurements and also low power with a high accuracy.

T-shirt development
Fabrics with three different materials (cotton, viscose and cotton/lycra) of GSM (90,110,130) were stitched in to t-shirts with four different measurements. Particulars Measurements(in cms)
Pattern1 Chest Shoulder Neck round Hip 98 40 44 100 Pattern2 96 36 42 98 Pattern3 98 36 44 100 Pattern4 98 44 44 100

Waist
Armhole round Full length Biceps Sleeve Length

96
48 65 35 22

94
47 63 33 20

96
48 65 35 24

96
48 65 35 20

Pattern 1: Style 1 is the t-shirt whose modification of actual t-shirt

measurements of 40 size t-shirt Pattern 2: Style 2 is the t-shirt whose modification of actual t-shirt

measurements, whose measurements are decreased 0.75 from the

actual measurement of standard measurements Pattern 3: For this style, shoulder width is decreased 0.75 and sleeve length altered from the actual measurement Pattern 4: For this style, shoulder width is increased 0.75 and sleeve length altered from the actual measurement

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Pressure applied Sensor (gms ) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000

Capacitance (pF)

2.621 2.733 2.771 2.852 2.895 2.965 3.025 3.101 3.183 3.294 3.355 3.421 3.486 3.522 3.579 3.613 3.664 3.723 3.784 3.865 3.948
Average

Difference of capacitance For each 50gms pressure 0 0.112 0.038 0.081 0.043 0.07 0.06 0.076 0.082 0.111 0.061 0.066 0.065 0.036 0.057 0.034 0.051 0.059 0.061 0.081 0.083 0.0644

Pressure (grams/cm2) = capacitance value sensor constant

Sensor constant = (load / (capacitance per load area of sensor) = (50 / (0.664 3.7994) = 198.1924 grams/cm 2/pF

Effect of fabric GSM and pattern alteration of t-shirt on fitness

From overall rating points of t-shirts the effect of GSM and pattern
alteration has been analyzed. In general the average grade point varies from 0.38 to 1.28. The lowest value corresponds to a good fitness and highest to a poor fitness. The best fitness is achieved for the t-shirt with actual measurement and

Effect of Material and pattern alteration of t-shirt on 110 GSM fabric. fitness

From overall rating points of t-shirts, the effect of material and

pattern alteration has been analysed. In general the average grade point varies from 0.48 to 1.38.

The best fitness is achieved for the t-shirt with actual

measurements and cotton/lycra material.

Effect of fabric GSM

Rank correlations between rating on the basis of attributes & overall appearance Method Cotton Single Jersey T-shirts 90 Gsm 110 Gsm 130 Gsm
Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4 Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4 Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 0.9 10 4 Pattern 4 1.1 5 9 8

Attributes 0.66 1.04 1.2 Rated points(A) Over all 0.9 1.1 1.2 appearanc e points (B) Ranking 3 7 11 of A Ranking 4 7 9 of B

1.04

0.38 1.28

0.94 0.64 0.84

1.14 1.1

1.8

0.5

1.25 1.05 1.45

0.3

0.6

7 12

1 2

12 10

6 6

5 11

2 1

4 3

R = 1-(6 d 2 /n3-n) = 0.6154

Effect of Material
Rank correlations between rating on the basis of attributes & overall appearance Method Single Jersey Fabric 130 GSM Viscose Cotton Cotton/Lycra Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4 Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4 Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4

Attributes 0.64 1.34 1.08 1.38 0.64 1.28 1.12 1.04 0.48 0.86 0.78 0.82 Rated points(A) Over all 0.76 1.3 1.15 1.5 0.52 1.43 0.9 1.15 0.4 0.7 0.85 0.64 appearanc e points (B) Ranking of 2 11 8 12 2 10 9 7 1 6 4 5 A Ranking of 5 10 8 12 2 11 7 8 1 4 6 3 B

Measurement of garment pressure at pressure points

T-Shirt Actual measurements Actual measurements decreased Shoulder width decreased Shoulder width increased Pressure points chest back shoulder chest back shoulder chest 90GSM 19.819 35.080 43.999 52.125 63.818 91.168 31.116 110GSM 46.377 64.214 93.943 91.565 103.06 120.501 67.980 130GSM 79.872 96.718 106.033 102.069 112.573 131.996 93.547

back
shoulder chest back shoulder

48.755
56.088 20.126 35.08 48.557

88.592
97.511 57.476 70.358 82.844

100.484
123.474 60.647 83.241 94.141

Comparison of subjective fit with objective pressure

T-Shirt Actual measuremen ts Actual measuremen ts decreased Shoulder width decreased Shoulder width increased Pressure points chest back shoulder chest back shoulder chest back shoulder chest back shoulder 90GSM 1.2 0.2 0.6 1.2 1.2 0.3 1 1 0.2 1.4 1.4 0.9 19.819 35.080 43.999 52.125 63.818 91.168 31.116 48.755 56.088 20.126 35.08 48.557 110GSM 0 0 0 1 1 0.5 1 1 0 1.1 1.1 0.4 46.377 64.214 93.943 91.565 103.06 120.501 67.980 88.592 97.511 57.476 70.358 82.844 130GSM 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.8 1 1 0.3 1 1 0.7 79.872 96.718 106.033 102.069 112.573 131.996 93.547 100.484 123.474 60.647 83.241 94.141

CONCLUSION
The developed sensor was used to measure the pressure at the important pressure points of t-shirt The value corresponding to the fitness was found to be 46.377,64.214 and 93.943 grams/cm2 at chest, back and shoulder point respectively for the t-shirt with actual measurements made up of 110 GSM single jersey cotton fabric. The pressure for a good fit t-shirt was quantified as 46-80 grams /cm2 at chest point, 35-65 grams/cm25 at back point and 56-95 grams/cm2 at shoulder point.