3D Design of smart clothing: a biomechanical approach to integration of electronic technologies

Traditional approaches to the design of electronic textiles consider electronic components as an addition to the finished product, excluding biomechanical components on the matrix during professional movements. The consequences of this include premature failure of wire paths, signal distortion during posture changes, and loss of measurement accuracy in the final phases of the work cycle. This article is devoted to the development and verification of a step-by-step algorithm for the combined biomechanics and design of smart workwear, in which a topological map of the deformation zone directly determines the architecture of sensor node placement. The article presents an eight step digital algorithm for designing smart workwear with embedded electronic elements (e-textiles), combining professional biomechanics, topological mapping of fabric deformation, and independent sensor placement. An extended HCE cluster model is used to account for the electrical parameters of fabrics. A sixth deformation zone category—the stable zone (St, ε < 5%)—is introduced as a target area for sensor nodes. The sensor stability index (SSI) is incorporated as a new design evaluation metric. Practical application of the algorithm increases the SSI from 0.72 to 0.93 and reduces the number of prototyping iterations from 5 to 1.