Clevertex - Grado Zero Espace Srl

In the left drawing in Fig. 50 the garment structure and sensor layout is illustrated; on the photographs
the prototype pressure-sensitive torso garment can be seen 110, 111, 112, 113].
Research on a special knee bandage based on conductive polymers with integrated sensors is carried
out by the Institute for Intelligent Polymer Research at the University of Wollongong. The device is a
lightweight fabric sleeve worn around the knee with a specially coated stretchable strip of polymercoated
fabric attached over the patella. The coated fabric acts as a strain gauge and emits an audio
tone when the knee bends beyond a pre-set angle. If, on landing, the knee angle is insufficient,
immediate feedback is provided to the player by means of no audio tone, allowing the player to adjust
their landing technique accordingly until they hear the sound [114, 115].
Another wearable joint monitoring sensor capable has been developed by the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, department of mechanical engineering, that is capable to monitor continuously day-today.
By integrating conductive fibres into flexible, skin-tight fabrics surrounding a joint, angular
displacement of such is possible to be measured [116].
Fig. 51 Joint monitoring sensor; the joint monitoring sensor; Left: Schematic view of the sensor design; one thread is
running lengthwise across a single-axis knee joint; Right: Prototype of the sensing garment; pants with
conductive sensors for lower body monitoring
In Fig. 51 the single conductive fibre sensor integrated into the pant is shown. At point A, one end of
the conductive fibre is attached to the nonconductive, form-fitting garment. At point B, along the
conductive fibre, a wire contact point is stitched permanently into the nonconductive fabric allowing the
conductive fibre to slide freely back and forwards. A coupled elastic cord keeps the other end (point C)
of the conductive fibre in tension, which is permanently attached to the remote side of the joint, point
D. Stretching in this coupled material will consequently always occur in the elastic cord, CD, and not in
the conductive fibre, AC. The elastic cord will change length upon the movement of the joint having
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