CAREER: System-on-Cloth: A Cloud Manufacturing Framework for Embroidered Wearable Electronics
Lead PI:
Sarah Sun
Abstract

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award will contribute to the advancement of national prosperity and economic welfare by researching systems that improve access to manufacturing services. Wearable electronics are widely used in health monitoring and wearable computing and there is a compelling need for comfort, biocompatibility, and easy operation. Recent progress in smart fabrics, textiles, and garments and the associated manufacturing technologies provides opportunities for next-generation wearable electronic devices that are fabricated on cloth. Automatic embroidery manufacturing is now an accessible tool for individuals and entrepreneurs. Embroidery offers great potential for electronic design due to its flexibility in transferring a desired pattern to fabric substrates. This project aims to establish a cloud manufacturing framework that integrates electronics and design-to-manufacturing translation in a system that can be used by customers, manufacturers, design experts, and developers to design and produce embroidered wearable electronics. In addition, this project also aims to broaden participation from K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, to provide rich multidisciplinary classroom and non-classroom experiences for all levels of students, and to inspire student interest in STEM careers.

Performance Period: 10/01/2021 - 07/31/2024
Institution: University of Virginia Main Campus
Sponsor: NSF
Award Number: 2222110