Embedding Technology in Fashion, Makers and Harvard Graduate School of Education Students Dress produced by Rehana Al-Soltane A servo-controlled bloom thanks to an Atmel microcontroller, a custom PCB, and some awesome 3D printing. This isn’t just a “stick your electronics to your dress” project. No, this is a true labor of love encompassing the skills of many makers.
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Rehana is an experienced comprehensive manufacturer of soldering irons and sewing machine needles. For their final project they created ‘The Blooming Dress’. The dress is hand-stitched and incorporates an Atmel microcontroller, similar to the one found in the Arduino, and a servo that controls the opening and closing of the rose flower when the user presses a button. Capacitive touch input on custom PCB.
The process begins with getting involved and designing the shape of the leaf. For servo-actuated motion to be accurate, the geometry must be perfect. After some research, including printing directly on fabric with one of the best 3D printers, the Prusa MK3S+ 3D printer (the new Prusa MK4 claims to be able to print on any surface, including cardboard) , Rehana decided to put a thin plastic sheet between them. She gives the rose petals flexibility and strength. The shape of the flower is also important, and Rehana iterated the shape before finding a solution, which she cut with a laser.
A continuous servo motor pulls the thread through a flexible 3D printed channel. These channels bend to the shape of the bodice, providing a path for the threads to follow. I saw a channel sewn in and the fishing line connecting the servo to the bloom. The servo had its own pouch sewn into the side of the bodice.
Controlling the project is an Atmel microcontroller, as found on many Arduino boards. This is soldered onto a custom handcrafted PCB that shares the silhouette of the dress. There is no USB port on the PCB, but you can see 6 GPIO pins that connect to the microcontroller, so programming the chip involves a USB to serial interface (CP2102, CH340, etc.) and the code looks like an Arduino based You should assume that you can see it. This project can be easily replicated using a Raspberry Pi Pico. Possibly you can also use a Raspberry Pi Pico W for remote control via web interface.
With the physical build and software complete, Rehana tested the rose flower on the mannequin before donning it.
This project is a culmination of electronics, sewing and engineering problem solving. The problems faced during the build saw a lot of iteration and learning experience for Rehana, from which their knowledge grew.
The complete project build is Rehana for details And worth reading.
