Smart Clothing

Smart Clothing project

The project ended in March 2000. And the result of the project was a smart clothing prototype. The prototype is intended especially for experienced snowmobile users to prevent accidents and to help to survive in case of the accident. The electrical design was made in Tampere University of Technology.

The suit consists of two-piece underwear, supporting vest and actual snowmobile jacket and trousers. The garment is capable of giving information about wearer's health, location and movements. With several integrated sensors it is possible to monitor user's condition and position. If the user encounters an accident or another abnormal situation, the suit will inform it to an emergency office or send the message himself informing of technical or other problems. The message contains the current coordinates of the user's position and the data from the physiological measurements. The coordinates are acquired using the Global Positioning System, GPS.

Orientation, communications and geographic positioning electronics can all be incorporated into outdoor clothing. Heat can be transferred through conducting fibres to colder areas of the body. Correspondingly, cooling can also be handled automatically. The functional architecture is implemented using GPS for navigation, GSM for communication and electrically heated fabric panels for heating. Sensoring system consists of a heart rate sensor, three position and movement sensors, ten temperature sensors, an electric conductivity sensor and two impair detecting sensors. In addition to these, the implementation requires a user interface (UI), a central processing unit (CPU) and power source. Each main module, excluding the sensors and the UI, is placed into the supporting vest.

Several non-electrical features are added to the suit to help the user in accidents or to support the clothing functions. These are e.g. snow melting pocket and map pocket.

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Updated , Hokkanen Mirja