Arrangeable Prototype Board for E-textiles

When prototyping circuits for e-textiles, it is beneficial to be able to arrange a circuit in a 3D-space as well as be flexible to the length of the conductive thread used to make connections from the microcontroller to the sensors. I based my e-textile prototyping board design on the ThreadBoard while expanding on these ideas.

• Adafruit Circuit Playground
• Transparent Acrylic or sturdy material of choice (1/8" thickness)
• 4mm diameter magnets as needed
• Adhesive Velcro strips (hooked side)
• Conductive Steel Thread
• Felt or other adhesive material of choice
• Hot glue (optional)

In order to make prototyping e-textile circuits more flexible and more applicable to the 3D nature of textiles, I've come up with a simple method (based on the current design of the ThreadBoard) of using pieces with Velcro attached to build and arrange a circuit on adhesive fabric. Using Velcro ensures that the pieces can stick reliably to the fabric while also allowing for their removal and rearrangement.

I used a laser cutter and acrylic to cut out about 15 square pieces to test out my design. Each of the pieces have 4-mm diameter holes to fit small, circular magnets. I cut out the hooked side of the Velcro to match the dimensions of the square pieces and stuck them to one side of each piece. Hot glue can be used if the Velcro adhesive does not stick well to the piece.

I also attached Velcro to the back of the Adafruit Circuit Playground so that it could also stick to the adhesive fabric.

I used this file for laser cutting the board pieces:

The pieces can be arranged in any desired 2D pattern on the fabric. I used felt because it acts as the loop adhesive for the Velcro. As with the ThreadBoard, the magnets are meant for allowing conductive steel thread to adhere to them, as well as magnetic sensors/actuators such as LEDs. Since the pieces are stuck to the fabric with Velcro, the fabric can be bent and looped around a part of the body without the pieces falling off.