A wearable tracking device inkjet-printed on textile

Bauyrzhan Krykpayev, Muhammad Fahad Farooqui, Rana Muhammad Bilal, Mohammad Vaseem, Atif Shamim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite the abundance of localization applications, the tracking devices have never been truly realized in E-textiles. Standard printed circuit board (PCB)-based devices are obtrusive and rigid and hence not suitable for textile based implementations. An attractive option would be direct printing of circuit layout on the textile itself, negating the use of rigid PCB materials. However, high surface roughness and porosity of textiles prevents efficient and reliable printing of electronics on textile. In this work, by printing an interface layer on the textile first, a complete localization circuit integrated with an antenna has been inkjet-printed on the textile for the first time. Printed conductive traces were optimized in terms of conductivity and resolution by controlling the number of over-printed layers. The tracking device determines the wearer's position using WiFi and this information can be displayed on any internet-enabled device, such as smart phone. The device is compact (55mm×45mm) and lightweight (22g with 500mAh battery) for people to comfortably wear it and can be easily concealed in case discretion is required. The device operates at 2.4GHz communicated up to a distance of 55m, with localization accuracy of up to 8m.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)40-48
Number of pages9
JournalMicroelectronics Journal
Volume65
DOIs
StatePublished - May 20 2017

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: We acknowledge financial support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR).

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A wearable tracking device inkjet-printed on textile'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this