• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.141-150
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the shape and attached position of E-textile-based stretchable sensors on motion-sensing performance and to investigate the requirements for the optimal structure of clothes for sensing limb motions. An experimental garment was prepared with different sensor shapes, and attachment positions. A child subject, wearing the experimental garment, performed arm and leg bending and extension motions at $60^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$ and $120^{\circ}$ motion angles, at a rate of 60 deg/sec. The changes in voltage triggered by the stretching and contracting of the fabric-sensor were measured, and an acceleration sensor was utilized to verify that the experimental motions were correctly performed. Dummy arms and legs of a child were manufactured to perform an identical test, in order to compare the dummy results with the actual human body experiment results. The analysis showed that the reproducibility and reliability of the rectangular sensor, showing uniform and stable were higher than those of the boat-shaped sensor, in both the dummy and the human body experiments. The attachment position of the sensor was more reproducible and reliable when placed on 4 cm below the elbow and knee joints in the dummy test, when placed in the joints of the elbow and knee, in children experiment. The appropriate shapes and attached positions of the sensor for sensing the motions were analyzed, and the results proved that motion-sensing of the human body is possible by utilizing flexible fabric-sensors integrated into clothes.