Application of Microchip Technology in Textile and Clothing

Microchip Technology in Fashion Industry

Manisha Beniwal
Department of Textiles (Fashion Technology)
DKTE’S Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji, India
Intern at Textile Learner
Email: manishabeniwal2920@gmail.com

Microchips:
It’s hard to imagine a world without microchips. They’re at the heart of the bias that we use to work, travel, stay fit and entertain ourselves – from buses to smartphones and from MRI scanners to artificial robots and data center. Microchips are far and wide. In 2020, further than 932 billion chips were manufactured around the world, feeding a €440 billion assiduity. By delivering new functionalities, better performance and lower cost with each generation, advances in chips have spawned new products and converted diligence. In textile, RFID chips are used. Today, RFID tagging has come the most generally and extensively used wireless technology after mobile phone. Fiscal experts say that this technology can help cloth and vesture companies save billions of bones by furnishing quick and exact data of different particulars located in different locales at any point of time. There are numerous RFID operations used in cloth and vesture diligence. It’s used for product shadowing, tracking labor movement, vindicating the product affair, quality control, checking supplies of different stores in the retail chain. It’s also used in spinning sector. By placing the markers in the separate semi-finished accoutrements, it avoids product mixing

Microchip Technology in Textile and Clothing Materials:
The successful uptake of any technology is, of course, dependent on the cost of product. One thinks of the cost advantages achieved by the development of sewing machines in the 16th century and the technological advances of the artificial revolution. Electronic textiles or microchip technology in cloth accoutrements are moment fairly precious, but there are good reasons to believe that with bettered technologies, costs will be driven down. Textile clothing has always been multi-functional. So, a shirt might give warmth, demonstrate one’s status, or be nearly to keep one’s pen. Over the centuries, technologies have developed to enhance functionality. Major developments have been the preface of synthetic filaments, advances in permeable leak-proof fabrics, and easy care parcels together with specific functions similar as impact protection or honey resistance.

Figure 1: Cross-sectional view of an electronically functional yarn

Application of Microchip Technology in Textile and Clothing:

1. Development of prototype temperature sensor sock:
New technology (microchip technology in textile accoutrements) was developed to produce a flawless knitted sock with 2.0 mm periphery channels in the sole on a ultramodern motorized flatbed stitching machine from Shima Seiki, Model SWG 091 N3, and 15NPI. The ETS yarns were fitted into the channels manually, and this allowed the thermistors to be deposited directly in the sole of the sock. It was necessary to develop the fashion of producing socks with channels as presently ETS yarns can be produced in small amounts. As with all knitted accoutrements, the structure relaxes and shrinks in size after manufacture and may also be stretched when worn. Thus, to insure that the detectors are rightly placed when worn, a simulated bottom with essence superstuds as position labels was created. Five ETS yarns were integrated into the channels of a knitted sock to develop temperature detector socks. The resistance of the thermistors was determined with a implicit separator circuit by using a USB 6008 DAQ unit from National Instruments connected to a PC. The values of the resistors used in the implicit separator circuit were determined with an Agilent 34410A 6 ½ Digital Multimeter to a perfection of 1 Ω. The software was developed in Lab VIEW to read the resistance of the five ETS yarn. The matching temperatures are determined from the resistance- temperature conversion equations handed by the thermistor manufacturer. The results were saved onto a spreadsheet.

Figure 2: Prototype sock and simulated foot used for sensor location

2. Future of microchip technology used in textile and clothing materials:
There will be significant reductions in the costs of electronic fabrics or microchip technology in cloth accoutrements as numerous cloth manufacturing processes are automated. Products will be developed that are grounded on lower semiconductor chips with attendant finer yarns and finer fabrics. There will be advances that will allow the integration of further complex functionality with lesser intelligence. These developments are likely to be enhanced by advances in electronics grounded on graphene. Graphene offers high- strength and outstanding electric parcels and may be set to replace silicon in electric bias. IBM, Samsung, and Nokia are formerly investing in graphene technology, and this is likely to have progressed by the late 2020s. The technology offers implicit for farther miniaturization of bedded electronics.

Conclusion:
Therefore microchips technology is very fruitful in fashion industry since it involves lot of new technology associated with it which satisfy the innovative products demand by the consumers. It uses RFID technology which helps to track the record so that we can avoid mistakes while carrying bulk production.

References:

High Performance Apparel: Materials, Development and Applications Edited by John McLoughlin and Tasneem Sabir
Applications of Microchip Technology in Textile Materials. Retrieved July 7, from, https://garmentsmerchandising.com/microchip-technology-textile-materials/
The basics of Microchips. Retrieved July 7, from, https://www.asml.com/en/technology/all-about-microchips/microchip-basics
RFID application in Textile and Apparel Industry. Retrieved July 7 , from, https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7346/rfid-applications-in-textile-and-apparel-industry

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Mazharul Islam Kiron

Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. He is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.