Hand-Made Embroidered Electromyography

Some of you will know that I have had a long standing relationship with CoRE, Centre for Robotics Research at Kings College London.  Last year I was involved in an EPSRC GCRF project to investigate the potential of hand sewn e-textile muscle sensors as a reusable and lower cost alternative to mass produced sensors.

I am very pleased to announce that thanks to Samuel Pitou and Matthew Howard’s hard work, a paper on this project has just been published in the MDPI Journal Sensors.  You can read about it here https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/12/3347

I ran a series of workshops with the women’s group Shelanu in Birmingham and at the Science Gallery in London to help  test this hypothesis.  Participants were asked to sew and test a given number of sensors and these were then laboratory tested later.

So this is the technical jargon bit…..When you move a muscle in your body electrical impulses, electromyopthy, can be measured on the surface of the skin (sEMG).  This research project was to compare the results for hand embroidered sEMGs alongside machine stitched and mass produced single use stick on sensors.  The rationale was that because they are on a fabric substrate there is potential for laundering and therefore re-use which may be a cheaper and more sustainable.   Because a hand sewn sensor does not need expensive equipment and relies on straight forward sewing techniques there is also the potential for them to be made by Community Interest Companies (CIC) within the populations of the low income countries where they might be used.

Want to know what the point is?  This short film shows embroidered sEMGs picking up electrical impulses on the skin to drive a robotic limb

Singing Quilts:All the things you are not yet

My Singing Quilt, ‘All the things you are not yet’ features a mobile phone photograph of two pre-implantation embryos digitally printed onto cotton.  This fabric has been embroidered with conductive threads to make fabric speakers that play a sound file of those embryos, now 5 years old boys, singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’  The soft circuits have been designed that the sound file is triggered when the quilt is touched.  Because the speakers are made from fabric the sound has a faint, ghost like quality and you need to put your head near the quilt to hear it.  This means the experience for the viewer is both interactive and intimate.

This was made with the help of the Centre for Robotics Research, Kings College London.

Hand Sewn Electrode Hack

Mediators training to embroider sesnors at the Science Gallery London

You might remember that I have been working with the guys at the Centre for Robotics Research, Kings College London.  We have been working collaboratively developing embroidered sesnors that can pick up electrical muscle impulses off the skin

You can read about the start of the project here https://karinathompsontextiles.blogspot.com/2015/01/

Sam Pitou at KCL is particularly interested in developing embroidered sensors for low cost robotic prostheses in developing countries and we have been creating hand stitched sensors to investigate their suitability.

We are asking people to drop into the exhibition Spare Parts at the Science Gallery London  Great Maze Pond, London, SE1 9GU before 31^st March 2019 and join us in creating sensors for a live research project.  

On Saturday 23^rd March we are also running a Hand-Sewn Electrode Hack

In this workshop and research project, participants are shown how to use stainless steel conductive thread and embroidery techniques to craft electrodes which can detect muscular activity (electromyography) and enable prosthesis wearers to control the moving parts of their artificial limb.

The Hand-Sewing Textile EMG research project investigates cheap and effective alternatives to industrially produced electrodes which can be prohibitively expensive.

On the day take on the challenge to sew 10 electrodes in 3 hours, and feed directly into live research. Bring busy fingers, a patient frame of mind, and good chat!

https://london.sciencegallery.com/seasons/spare-parts/exhibition/hand-sewn-electrode-hack

STAR conference

I am very excited to have been asked to speak at the first Smart Textiles and Robotics (STAR) workshop at Kings College London, on Friday 10^th February.   The aim of the day is “to create an ongoing forum for discussion, networking and identification of consortiums for collaboration to bring about further advances in the area of smart textiles and robotics.”  The day runs from 9.30-4 and tickets are free but you do need to book them to secure your place.  They have some great speakers lined up who are experts in the fields of informatics, soft robots and e-textiles and you can find out more here https://www.textilerobotics.org/

.

As part of this event I am running a textile workshop aimed at hackers, crafters and tinkerers as well as those that want to start investigating smart textiles the afternoon before on Thursday 9^th February.  You do need to be a student at KCL to attend and you can book your free space here

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-textiles-but-were-too-scared-to-ask-tickets-31481020580

If you aren’t a student there is might be worth contacting me directly in case we have spare places that I can offer you.