The design and implementation of electrically heated clothing

Abstract

Modern fibre and textile materials and miniaturised electronic components enable implementation of smart clothes that enhance or augment the functionality of the ordinary clothing. Smart clothes together with palm top computers comprise applications that have an easy to use user interface. The paper describes the design and implementation of the electrically heated clothing prototype. The purpose of the prototype is to study the possibilities to augment the usage temperature range of the clothing by providing an additional electrical heating option. A palm top computer based user interface is also presented and compared to other alternatives. Some disadvantages and improvements are also discussed.