At Fab Academy there are some projects on wearables and biomaterials separately, but there is no current reference on a project that combines the two principal items of my project.

For the part of wearable electronics, I have taken as a reference Victoria Peredo's project, whose project focuses on correcting the back posture to avoid future physical pain.

There are other external projects related to smart textiles and clothing that I have taken from Pauline Van Dongen such as Issho and Fysiopal. I have taken these two projects as a reference to understand well the implication of wearables on practical targets around the body.

Regarding projects related to biomaterials garments, I have taken as a reference some works by Clara Davis such as Calgina Bodysuit and Biofilter Top, a project done in collaboration with Anastasia Pistofidou.

On the other hand, this project is the evolution of Níitû project, which I did last year as my final project of the Master of Fashion Futures. Here I was able to demonstrate it is possible to carry out experimental suits with biomaterials, except in this project I could not implement the technology due to time constraints.

I have designed from the auxiliary elements of the project, such as: the mannequin and the sleeve molds, through the biomaterials that make up the sleeve and the system integration to the finishes and joints of the sleeve.

For the mannequin (auxiliary suppport):

• 5 mm DM Wood Board
• 18 mm round section wood profile
• White glue

To create the biomaterial garment I needed:

_ Molds
• 10mm Foamed PVC Board
_ Toile
• Cotton Fabric
• Basting thread
_ Ingredients for biomaterials
• Granulated gelatin
• Water
• Glycerin
• Spirulina Powder
_ Links
• Snap brackets
• PLA Filament

For the electronics:

• ADXL 345 3-axis accelerometer
• RGB Neopixel LED strip 0.5m 3 LEDs
• LED SDM 1608
• Motor vibration
• Silicone Electric Cable 22 AWG
• 12V power supply
• 12V battery holder
• Microcontroller ATtiny 1614
• FR1 PCB Board
• Various resistors and pin headers

The ingredients for the biomaterials, as well as, DM wood and plastic boards that I was used for the molds items come from local suppliers. The PLA filament from Prusament, and all electronic components from online platforms such as Digikey, Mouser Electronics, Amazon, and Adafruit.

Here I will quantify not only the economic cost of the materials, but also the estimated work time. About the economic cost it is estimated, approximately:

As for the organization and estimation of the work times that will be dedicated to the project, they are described in the following image:

For the project I was going to develop:

• Auxiliary elements (a mannequin and reusable molds)
• The suit and system integration made with biomaterials
• Electronics design and production

For the mannequin modelling I used Make Human, Rhinoceros and Slicer for Fusion 360 to get the sections of the body that I cut at the lasser cut machine.

For the sleeve, I modeled around the 3D body extracted from Make Human to obtain the base patterns that I drawed with Rhinoceros. Once I have them, first I made a toile with cotton fabric cutiing in the laser cut to readjust some measurements on the body.

Once the patterns were readjusted, I cut the pattern molds on the CNC machine for the sleeves and system integration of the electonics circuit.

With the molds prepared, I cooked the flexible biomaterial made with a gelatin base, spirulina and glycerrol.

For the design of the electronic boards I used Eagle, I milled the circuits and the neopixel boards on Proto Boards FR1 and later I soldered all the components.

About the programming of the microcontrollers I used Arduino IDE and Windows.

Finally, to integrate all the components between the system integration and the sleeve, we have sewn and / or bio-joined all electronic components and links around the biofilms, with threads and/or the same spirulina biomaterial.

SUMMARY

• Computer Aided Design. (Design of auxiliary elements, patterns , links and molds).
• Laser Cutter. (Auxiliary elements)
• CNC Machine. (Sleeve and System Integration Layers Molds)
• 3D Printing. (Joints and links)
• Molding and Casting. (Sleeve and System Integration
• Electronics Design > Electronics Production > Input Devices (Accelerometer) > Output Devices (RGB Neopixel leds and Motor Vibration)

After several weeks since I answered the questions of the Applications and Implications assigment, regarding the questions I asked myself, I have been able to answer satisfactorily the answers of good integration of the circuit and mobility of the user. Regarding the results that we expected to obtain with the first initially biomaterial (raisins bioplastic), I was unable to work with it due to the lack of drying time and the breakages that it presented in its unmolding.

Finally, I had to resort to a biomaterial with which I have already worked on other occasions (spirulina bioplastics), and it has offered me very optimal results in both elasticity and conductive resistance.

Initially the idea was to create an inner layer (sleeve) made with bioplastic raisins and another outer layer (brazers) made with bioresin. But due to the drying times of the raisin bioplastic needed (at least 6 whole days) and the fact that I poured the biomaterial into the mold without applying a release agent, it caused the biomaterial to break when unmolding. So I had to re-mill another foamed PVC board and cast it with spirulina bioplastic.

The spirulina biomaterial, being a little more strong and opaque than the bioplastic of raisins, did not need the complement of the bioresin brazers, so they were eliminated from the final design.

There were some scares with the first electronic boards and the 12V battery, since there was a problem with the used regulators.

And regarding flexible board with flexible copper, some shear tests were attempted, but unfortunately, removing the excess copper made it difficult to hold some of the traces firm, and in some areas they broke.

Regarding what was discussed in this question at the Applications and Implications assignment, although there have been some inconveniences during the process, I have managed to obtain good results in all the spirals and / or objectives set for this final project.

There are some drawbacks when it comes to accelerometer calibration when we take off and put the sleeve back on. For this, it would be necessary to try to make a better grip of the sleeve around the bust of the body. However, I have managed to make the sequence of movements work and the sleeve is comfortable enough around the arm.

The initial idea of B.R.E.A.T.H.E, is to continue researching in the line of creating therapeutic prostheses or expanding the communication and sequence of meditation and stretching movements with other parts of the body.

The target is to continue exploring the material limits of biomaterials around the body for a possible future application in our garments, as well as to use the applied technology for health and physiotherapeutic uses to help people with certain disabilities or immobility.

I would like to publish this project in magazines and social media, to spread and capture the curiosity of people who, like me, may be interested in the future application of biomaterials and their use in design and architecture.

During the Computer-Aided Design week, for the human model I used Make Human, adapting the body to my real measurements. From here, I have exported the model human and modeled and designed the sleeve and the integration system around it.

During the Computer conttrolled-Cutting and Computer-controlled Machining weeks, I started designing pieces to make mannequins of parts of the body. In this case, with the Slicer for Fusion 360 software and Rhinnoceros, we have obtained a series of pieces, which when joined together, form the auxiliary mannequin of the project.

From the design made, we have prepared the file of the sleeve and the integration system molds in Cut2D, and finally, milled in the CNC Machine on Foamed PVC board.

For the 3D printing part, I have designed in Rhinoceros 3D pieces that serve as joints between both ends of the sleeve. They have a simple closure system and easy to open-close for the user's convenience.

For the biofabrication of the sleeve and the system integration I have used the following spirulina bioplastic recipe (described in the image), and poured over the Foamed PVC molds that I milled previously.

After 3 days of drying, the biomaterial can be easily removed from the mold and I proceed to cut and sew it.

During the inputs and outputs devices weeks, I began to test with the Hello Piña! boards the sensors and output that I wanted to use for the final project.

To simplify the circuit, I have developed a single board that combines both the accelerometer, the neopixels and the vibration motor controlled by an ATtiny 1614.

Next, I describe the complete list of components for the development of this PCB Board:

Regarding programming, the ATtiny 1614 is programmed so that depending on the value that the accelerometer reads in the X position, the strip of neopixels changes color, depending on the range of values in which we are.

If we manage to reach the last position of the accelerometer sequence, the microcontroller is programmed to the vibration motor emits a series of hums, and informs us that we have successfully carried out all the movements.

This is the final code:

//B.R.E.A.T.H.E
//Final Project. Fab Academy 2021
//Lorena Delgado Piña
//Fab Lab León + Fab Lab IED Madrid

//Accelerometer + Neopixels + Motor Vibration

#include SPI.h
#include Wire.h
#include SparkFun_ADXL345.h 
ADXL345 adxl = ADXL345();

//accelerometer values

int xposition0 = -32;
int xposition1 = -14;
int xposition2 = 25;
int xposition3 = -28;
int margin = 1;

//motor vibration variables
//int motorOn = 0;
int VibrationPin = 10; // create integer variable for motor pin on Attiny1614 (PWM PA5 pin)
int onTime = 200;   // create integer variable for when motor is on
int offTime = 600;  // create integer variable for when motor is off

//neopixels definition

//#include Adafruit_NeoPixel.h
#include tinyNeoPixel.h

#define PIN 1

// Parameter 1 = number of pixels in strip
// Parameter 2 = Arduino pin number (most are valid)
// Parameter 3 = pixel type
//   NEO_GRB     Pixels are wired for GRB bitstream (most NeoPixel products)
//   NEO_RGB     Pixels are wired for RGB bitstream (v1 FLORA pixels, not v2)
//   NEO_RGBW    Pixels are wired for RGBW bitstream (NeoPixel RGBW products)

tinyNeoPixel strip = tinyNeoPixel(3, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
//Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(3, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
void setup() 
{
  //accelerometer

   Serial.begin(9600);             
   Serial.println("Begin");
   Serial.println();

   adxl.powerOn();            
   adxl.setRangeSetting(16);       //Define the range, values 2, 4, 8 o 16

  //neopixels

  strip.begin();

  //motor vibration

  pinMode(VibrationPin, OUTPUT); // Set output on Attiny412 PWM PA5 pin

}
void loop() 
{
   //read the values and print it
   int x, y, z;
   adxl.readAccel(&x, &y, &z);  
   //If the accelerometer values coincides with the zero position, the neopixels light red)
   Serial.println(x);



  if (x > xposition0 - margin && x < xposition0 + margin){ 
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 0); //light red definition at zero position on the first neopixel 
    strip.setPixelColor(1, 255, 0, 0); //light red definition at zero position on the second neopixel
    strip.setPixelColor(2, 255, 0, 0); //light red definition at zero position on the third neopixel
  } else { 
  
          if (x > xposition1 - margin && x < xposition1 + margin){ 
          strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 255); //light magenta definition at first position on the first neopixel
          strip.setPixelColor(1, 255, 0, 255); //light magenta definition at first position on the second neopixel
          strip.setPixelColor(2, 255, 0, 255); //light magenta definition at first position on the third neopixel
          }else {
                  if (x > xposition2 - margin && x < xposition2 + margin){ 
                  strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 255, 0); //light green definition at first position on the first neopixel
                  strip.setPixelColor(1, 0, 255, 0); //light green definition at first position on the second neopixel
                  strip.setPixelColor(2, 0, 255, 0); //light green definition at first position on the third neopixel
                
                }else {
                        if (x > xposition3 - margin && x < xposition3 + margin){ 
                        strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 0, 255); //light blue definition at first position on the first neopixel
                        strip.setPixelColor(1, 0, 0, 255); //light blue definition at first position on the second neopixel
                        strip.setPixelColor(2, 0, 0, 255); //light blue definition at first position on the third neopixel

                        digitalWrite(VibrationPin, HIGH); // turn vibration motor on
                        delay(onTime); // stays on for 200 ms 
                        digitalWrite(VibrationPin, LOW); // turn vibration motor off
                        delay(offTime); //stays off for 600 ms
                      
                            
                        
                       }else {
                              strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 0, 0); //off definition at zero position on the first neopixel
                              strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 0, 0); //off definition at zero position on the second neopixel
                              strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 0, 0); //off definition at zero position on the third neopixel
                           
                            }
                      }
                }
          }
        
  strip.show(); //Switch on the leds with the define colors
  delay(500);
}
                                

For the system integration , we have milled and casted a biomaterial underlayer, which integrates the entire electrical circuit of the wearable. For this, we have sewn all the components on the "spine" and the brackets to be able to open and close the integrated system with ease.

Since all the development of this project is going to be public, I want to use a Creative Commons (CC) license, which is a non-profit organization focused on getting the largest number of creative works available so that others can reproduce and share them legally. This organization offers you several licenses according to the copyright, commercial use, communication or public assignment we want to carry out.

For my project I am going to use:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

What does this type of license mean?

This means that:

• You are free to: share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material).

Under this following terms:

• _Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

• _NonCommercial: you may not use the material for commercial purposes.

• _ShareAlike: if you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

Finally, with all the integration applied, this is the end result. A biomaterial sleeve, quite comfortable and flexible that allows mobility and is both an instructive and sensory experience.

Here you can find all the files that are part of B.R.E.A.T.H.E project. For more information about some of the sections or files that belong to this project, you can find them with detail in Project Development.

For any questions or doubts about some of the aspects of the project, do not hesitate to contact me through my social networks, which I describe below the webpage.

B.R.E.A.T.H.E, The bio-wearable posture corrector by Lorena Delgado