3E Smart Solutions
Mobiltech is the second-largest segment of the technical textile market. Automotive, along with aircraft, ships, railway, and aerospace, is part of Mobiltech. The Global Automotive Fabric Market is growing.
Many different textile applications in Automotive. In each of these applications, functional textiles can improve comfort, performance, and safety.
Textiles are already a significant part of the automotive interior, esp. carpets, upholstery, and pre-assembled interior components. Here is an example of an interactive Car Seat Simulator.
Embroidered e-textiles find a unique application in the interactive Car Seat Simulator. This simulator is equipped with Haptic Seat Adjustment, Heating Control Elements, Moss-embroidered textile capacitive sensors, and heater and occupancy sensors integrated with the TWP (Tailored Wire Placement) technology. These sensors offer distinctive haptics, allowing the user (driver) to feel their operation without having to visually inspect them. The production process is streamlined, with sensor embroidery, PCB integration, and decoration all completed in a single step.
Embellished capacitive sensors can work even when embedded under different dielectric materials, such as fabric, leather, wood, or plastic. A functional layer can be hidden behind the decorative layer. Sensors can be calibrated individually, and the decorative layer can be a mixture of different materials.
An intelligent dashboard embroidered capacitive sensors and sliders with a functional layer are hidden behind a decorative layer of upholstered leather. Feedback: embroidered LED sequins. Ambient lighting effects can be achieved by the integration of EL wires or LED wires into the roof liner. Combination with classical embroidery is possible in the same production step, again customizable to your unique design.
LEDs can be integrated into the side panel of the seat or the roof liner for ambient lighting combined with decorative embroidery designs in the same production step. Ambient lighting can also be integrated into car floor mats customizable to OEM’s unique design.
Moss-embroidered electrodes integrated into the steering wheel are Customizable in size, shape, and haptics. They monitor driver fatigue through continuous heart rate measurement. The sensor can also be integrated into the car seat with the Textile-based pressure sensor matrix, providing continuous pressure distribution measurement—used as an occupancy sensor and also for driver fatigue detection through posture detection.
Embroidery is a state-of-the-art technology for producing car seat heating. Tailored Wire Placement (TWP) allows for flexibility in size, pattern, and heating wire. Multi-head embroidery machines, as well as roll-to-roll and roll-to-cut systems, allow for easy scalability.
6-head embroidery machine for car seat heating production via TWP incl. 6x Twin Supply System – Up to 56 heads are possible.
Intelligent textiles are not limited to manual production. Embroidery technology enables reliability, automation, and scalability. It can integrate diverse functions into automotive interiors. The technology is available. Take it and adapt it to your specific application and needs!
Contact Steliyan Vasilev, Co-Founder & Development Engineer | 3E Smart Solutions, Product Design and Innovation Smart & E-Textiles | ZSK Stickmaschinen GmbH.
