Creating Electronic Textile Art Pins
Students’ background understanding of electricity and circuit-building is reinforced as they create wearable, light-up e-textile pins. They also tap their creative and artistic abilities as they plan and produce attractive end product “wearables.” Using fabric, LED lights, conductive thread (made of stainless steel) and small battery packs, students design and fabricate their own unique light-up pins. This involves putting together the circuitry so the sewn-in LEDs light up. Connecting electronics with stitching instead of soldering gives students a unique and tangible understanding of how electrical circuits operate.
Examples of finished LED pins designed and created by students.Copyright 2014 SparkFun Education CC BY-SA 3.0 https://learn.sparkfun.com/resources/86
Electrical engineers play an important role in developing the countless pieces of technology we use in our daily lives. Engineers design the electrical circuits and batteries that are inside these everyday devices and appliances. Engineers must take seriously the responsibility to design circuits that work safely and dependably, which requires them to have an excellent understanding of electricity and the physics behind circuits.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Explain the basic concepts of electricity that are necessary to fabricate a product that requires a circuit.
- Connect and build a working circuit using positive and negative traces.
- Demonstrate basic sewing skills.