An Alternative Method to Develop Embroidery Textile Strain Sensors

Abstract

In this paper, a method to develop embroidered textile strain resistive sensors is presented. The method is based on two overlapped zigzag conductive yarn patterns embroidered in an elastic textile. To demonstrate the functionality of the proposed configuration, a textile sensor embroidered with a conductor yarn composed of 99% pure silver-plated nylon yarn 140/17 dtex has been experimentally characterised for an elongation range from 0% to 65%. In order to show the sensor applicability, a second test with the sensor embroidered in a knee-pad has been done to evaluate the flexion knee angle from 180° to 300°. The experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed method to develop fabric strain sensors that can help to manufacture commercial applications on the healthcare sector.