Development of the Smart Jacket Featured with Medical, Sports, and Defense Attributes using Conductive Thread and Thermoelectric Fabric ^†

Abstract

The exigency of humans is boosting the necessity of Smart Textiles in this modern era. A decade ago, envisioning sophisticated outerwear with several uses were considered a challenge. This study aims to a jacket with 15 features; divided into 7 groups, including defense, sports, health, medical, women, and children safety mechanisms, 4 out of these 15 functions can be controlled by an Android app, “Smart Jacket BUFT”. To avoid nonrenewable energy sources, solar power and energy harvesting technology to produce electricity from body heat and foot-powered energy were used, Smart jacket has embedded circuits and sensors alone with AD8232, MAX30100, NEO6m GPS, and ESP32 microcontrollers & voice and app-control. It is hopping that; his initial stage of growth and improvement will pave the way for subsequent activities.

1. Introduction

The invention of textiles roughly 27,000 years ago could be regarded as the first time humans created a useful material [1]. Smart Textile can detect mechanical, thermal, magnetic, chemical, electrical, or other environmental variables and respond in a programmed manner (stimuli) [2]. Electronics are made from conductive threads and fabrics, whose limits and potential are determined by textile materials and production procedures [3]. In the late 1990s, MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted a series of studies on E-textiles in academia [4]. In the field of Textile Technology, it was hard to imagine the concept of Smart Jackets with all sorts of features, including health and medicinal functionalities, sports flexibilities, women’s safety options, children’s safety options, defense options, and a lot more, in just one jacket. The wearable electronic jacket is nowadays playing an important role in the medical world. New monitoring system support resources have been developed because of recent technological advances in mobile devices and wireless communications. A few years ago, the thought of a jacket that could seamlessly communicate and converse with a personal assistant and deliver practical solutions to everyday difficulties was simply a concept. This research paper brought the notion to life by designing a practical smart jacket with a total of fifteen features. To assure the jacket’s flexibility and efficiency, we developed our own conductive thread and fabric flexible circuit. The Wearable Motherboard^TM envisioned clothing that could monitor important signals discretely [5]. Cooseman et al. described a wireless charging garment with a patient monitoring system [6]. The use of carbon nanotubes to convert cotton thread for use in E-textiles was described in a 2008 study [7]. MyHeart, a 2009 EU (FP 6)-funded project, created ECG- and breathing-sensitive smart textiles [8]. For energy textile solution, in 2007, Qin et al. described energy harvesting utilizing Piezoelectric Zinc Oxide nanowires grown around textile fibers [9]. Design Research Lab at the Berlin University of the Arts and Telekom Innovation Laboratories designed the Smart Maintenance Jacket, which uses wearable technology for industrial maintenance work and predicts the future role of networked wearables in these contexts for telecommunications carriers [10]. Muhammad Arsalan et al. developed a next-generation tactical system for monitoring military health data. The suit’s internal CPU receives and sends sensor data using LoRaWAN technology. The report analyzes the suit’s system design and functionality [11]. Anurag Sharma et al. developed an IoT-based smart jacket in 2022 with ECG, heart rate, body temperature, air temperature, and oximeter sensors [12]. In the same year, Manibabu A and colleagues designed a Smart Thermal Jacket with Wearable Sensors using IoT [13]. In addition, Paolo Visconti et al. demonstrated a smart garment, in 2022, that monitors environmental factors and vital signs to monitor workers in hazardous industries [14]. The University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan designed a wearable solar energy harvesting jacket for vital health monitoring systems in the current year [15]. Dilber Uzun Ozsahin et al. used multiple devices in one smart jacket [16].

2. Objectives

• Design a multifunctional smart jacket from scratch.
• To construct an energy-efficient jacket and to save non-renewable energy.
• Utilize both hazardous and non-hazardous garbage, as well as clothes to decrease waste and diminish the effect on the environment.
• Add Electrical Components to Textile Clothing.

3. Materials & Methods

3.1. Materials

The jacket was made with 100% polyester fabric of 300 GSM.

Trims: Plastic Zipper, Metal Zipper; Sewing Thread: 20/2, 40/3 and Fabric Glue was also used. Conductive thread and fabric flexible circuits maintain conductivity and add flexibility. To make it eco-friendly and cost-effective, waste materials were utilized. Besides, developed thermoelectric fabric was used which body heat into electrical energy.

Table 1. Waste Material Used in Smart Jacket.

Sl	Material	Form	Waste
1	Liquid Carbon Paste	Old dry cell battery	Hazardous wastage
2	Aluminum Foil	Old mobile phone battery	non-hazardous wastage
3	Copper foil	Old mobile phone battery	non-hazardous wastage
4	Empty Matchbox	Matchbox	General Wastage
5	Cutting Fabric	Apparel Industry	Apparel Wastage (Pre-Consumed)
6	Plastic bottle’s crock	Plastic Wastage	Minimum solid waste
7	Synthetic Rubber	Old Rubber Gloves	General Waste

shows the waste materials used in Smart Jacket.

3.2. Methodology

Figure 1 shows Jacket’s methodology according to units. The smart jacket’s heart and brain work simultaneously. It collects data from NEO6M GPS module, MAX30100 Oxi-Pulse sensor, and AD8232 sensor circuit. An Android app was developed for Smart Jacket’s brain and heart. Before starting the app, ESP32 was connected to a mobile hotspot. The NEO6M GPS module sent a signal to satellites. GPS started when satellites sent data to NEO6M GPS module. Firebase displays the user’s location, heart rate, oxygen level, and ECG via a mobile app after receiving ESP32 data. (Figure 2b) Despite using two 1000 mAh 3.7 V DC batteries for a total voltage of 7.2 V and an LM7805 MOSFET as a 5.0 V voltage regulator, they were all turned on by 5.0 V. This 7.2-volt battery was charged by a 5.0-volt, two-piece, 1-watt solar panel on the back of the jacket.

The body unit was equipped with an automated heating system, automatic light on/off, a smart screen on the cuff, and a device charging system. Automatic heating used a W1219 temperature controller circuit and an NTC sensor module. It was a heating/cooling controller. First, a W1219 circuit was connected to a 14.8-volt power bank charged by a shoe’s piezo element generated electricity. Three heating pads were on W1219. As the user walked, mechanical energy was transferred to piezo components and converted to electrical energy. The potential difference’s energy was then converted with a DC-to-DC converter and sent to a 14.8-volt power source. Nichrome wire and cotton made a heating pad formed a solenoid. The heating pad warmed. W1219 has two screens. The two displays showed the current and set temperatures. The user could set the temperature to their personal preferences. Moreover, the automated light on/off system constructed by a flexible fabric circuit with a resistor, transistor, and LDR. The battery was 3.7 V, 800 mAh DC which was charged by thermoelectric fabric. Thermoelectric fabric was formed from electronic and textile waste. When light-dependent resistors detect more light, their resistance rises, deactivating the circuit. When the LDR sensed no light, its resistance dropped, triggering the circuit. This turned on the jacket’s hoodie LEDs.

Electronic device charging system contained by a 3.7 volt, 3600 mAh Lithium-ion battery with a voltage boost module. A 5-volt, 1-watt solar panel charged this battery. A USB voltage booster was attached to the battery in the welt pocket. This study featured a smart screen on the cuff of the smart jacket which was created with a fabric flexible circuit using Arduino pro mini, HC-05 Bluetooth module, 0.96” OLED display, 3.7-volt 2800 mAh battery (which can be charged by1 watt, 5.0-volt solar panel), and polyester fabric and conductive thread. Figure 2c exhibits the methods of the smart screen the on cuff.

The jacket’s voice unit consisted of an old speaker PCB circuit, 3.7 volts and 1000 mAh a lithium-ion battery (which can be charged by 1 watt, 5.0-volt solar panel), a speaker (3 w) and a microphone. A Bluetooth circuit and an mp3 circuit were combined to from this circuit whose connection was formed with the smartphone upon activation. Personal assistants such as Google, Siri, and Alexa can be linked into smartphones.

In the jacket’s right-glove there is a shocking element. For that, a high-voltage transformer whose input was 3.7 to 6 volts and output were 400,000 DC volt, a metal shank button, a 3.7-volt DC lithium-ion battery, and a 5.0-volt 1-watt mini solar panel. A high voltage transformer was connected to shank button and placed on the glove’s two-finger. The glove had to be waterproof and for extra safety we used synthetic rubber on the shank button area. Upon pressing the switch shank button, 400,000 DC volts were produced, allowing them to defend themselves easily. The left glove has a toxic gas spreader system with an ultrasonic MIST module, a switch, and a 1000 mAh, 3.7-volt lithium polymer battery, which was charged by a 5-volt 1-watt solar panel. For MIST, we made a liquid reserve tank from plastic waste. MIST module had a piezo atomizer disc. When activated by battery, the MIST module main circuit of IC sent data to the disc, which turned liquid into gas. As a self-defense glove, chloroform (CHCl₃) was used. So, users can easily spread toxic gas (CHCl₃) for defense or protection purposes.

4. Results

All this jacket’s functionalities were executed excellently. Figure 2a–c show the practical visualization of the jacket. An Android mobile application was developed and given the name “SMART JACKET BUFT” for these four functions (GPS with emergency switch, Oximeter, pulse meter, ECG). Figure 2d shows the Android application of the smart jacket. These features can be accessed by multiple users who are using the same mobile applications as the wearer. the power unit uses solar system (which covers most functions), piezoelectric shoe, and thermoelectric fabric (which is still under testing). However, during this research we were unable to find any kind of flexible battery, so we used tiny-sized lithium polymer and lithium-ion batteries.

Formatting of Mathematical Components

For the solar system,

Estimate voltage and current from the mini solar panel [17].

$$\mathrm{Charging}\mathrm{time}=\frac{\mathrm{battery}\mathrm{capacity}\left(\mathrm{watt}\mathrm{hours}\right)}{\mathrm{solar}\mathrm{power}\left(\mathrm{in}\mathrm{watt}\right)}\times 2$$

(1)

On the back part of this jacket are five small solar panels that serve as the power output’s charging mechanism. Each solar panel has dimensions of 90 mm by 90 mm (l × w) and voltage of 5.00 volts.

Table 2. Estimated charging time according to unit.

Features (According to Unit)	No of Solar	Num of Battery	Battery Voltage (V)	Battery Amphere (mAh)	Charging Time (Hour)
Heart and Brain unit	2	2	3.7 × 2 = 7.4	1000	14.8
Shocking glove (Defense unit) + Electrical device charging system (Body Unit)	1	2	3.7 × 2 = 7.4	3600	53.28
Toxic gas spreader glove (defense unit) + Voice unit	1	2	3.7 × 2 = 7.4	1000	14.8
Smart screen (Body Unit)	1	1	3.7	1000	7.4

estimated charging time according to unit.

5. Features

The jacket includes 15 features.

• GPS with emergency switch: a Custom-built Android-app to determine GPS-enabled user’s real time location, which will notify if the user presses the emergency-button.
• Oximeter: this jacket’s oxygen meter allows the wearer to check their level via a mobile app.
• Pulse-meter: this jacket’s pulse meter can be monitored via app.
• ECG: it has an ECG-measurement system that can be accessed via app.
• Smart screen on cuff: Bluetooth lets users connect to the jacket’s smart screen that displays the user’s phone’s time, SMS, and email.
• Automatic Heat Warm System: this instantly warms the wearer. This feature maintains user-selected temperature.
• Automatic light on-off system: in the dark, two powerful LED torches on the jacket’s hood turn on. The light turns off when the user goes from dark to light.
• Charging system: It’s ‘belt’pocket has a charging mechanism for mobile devices.
• Shocking glove: it is for women’s self-defense. The jacket’s 400,000 DC voltage will likely shock an attacker.
• Toxic gas spreader glove: it is used for self-defense. Jacket users can defend by spreading narcotic gases like chloroform.
• Fashion feature: jacket had many pockets, such as tablet, waterproof, hidden, pen holder pockets etc.
• RFID: by placing the phone in the RFID pocket, it enters ‘Flight-mode’.
• Solar panel: solar panel on the back of the jacket powers most of its functions.
• Thermoelectric fabric: it was used in the smart jacket for experimental purpose.
• Piezo element shoe: this jacket has a pair of shoes with piezo elements.

6. Discussion & Conclusions

6.1. Discussion

This study sought to improve the adaptability of textiles and electronic components. Conductive thread was utilized to connect both flexible fabric circuits and fabric-printed circuit boards. To manufacture the most popular conductive thread, however, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and silver were utilized, which was relatively expensive [18]. For this study, a conductive thread was developed with a meager resistance (0.2 Ω/cm to 0.0164 Ω/cm). Therefore, many circuits in one jacket will not be a problem. The jacket research encompassed all human requirements. This garment can be employed to construct seven jackets in the future. Medical, Military, Women’s, Children’s, Tech-Tex, Cyberia Survival, and Sports Jackets. E-textile research also requires Flexible Nanochips and Nano electric particles which were not available in BD. In addition, the required chemical composition for this experiment was not available in BD. Moreover, the financial crisis was the most crucial truth about this research. Despite showing that entire jackets can be developed with Fabric PCB shown in Figure 3 and Fabric Flexible Circuits. A piezo-shoe jacket attachment was also created for charging reasons. This feature aimed to construct wireless electrical charging technology; however, it failed due to lack of resources, time, and knowledge. This investigation was concluded despite a few flaws. Any researcher working on e-textiles or intelligent textiles might benefit from this study.

6.2. Future Outlook

Regarding the characteristics, this investigation discovered further revolutionary concepts. Some of the jacket’s attributes may not have existed because of economic slump. Among other innovations, there was power generated from human hair, a small, flexible tab on apparel, a 20× magnifying camera, a poisonous gas detector, an air oxygen level meter, and a button projector. In addition, there were several medical features, such as an automatic blood pressure measuring system, a body temperature meter, and galvanic skin resistance, and others. In addition to defensive functions, such as a web shooter, laser burning system on the glove, CO₂ spreading system, heads-up translating display, 100× magnification camera glasses, and several others, the smart jacket would be outfitted with an assortment of extra functionality. This investigation also offers some original ideas for the defense industry. As additions to robotics, two micro robots resembling Mr. Doctor and Mr. Commander were proposed. These intelligent micro robots will be concealed within the flap pockets. Importantly, jacket advancements include anti-bacterial fabric, ECG electrode fabric, fire-prevention fabric, and bulletproof fabric. Energy-harvesting textiles, such as solar fabric, would boost the value of clothing. The next generation of smart jackets would be powered by artificial intelligence. In the medical and military industries, this jacket improvement would be incredibly useful. Micro- and nanotechnology would enhance the jacket’s performance, reduce its weight, and make it more comfortable.