Following a YouTube tutorial, I made an E-Textile pressure sensor. I didn’t have all the materials to hand as I’m still waiting for the conductive fabric I ordered to arrive so I had to use the limited amount available. Because I didn’t have enough to cut the shapes shown in the tutorial, I sewed conductive thread through the conductive fabric and backing fabric, this meant I was able to attach alligator clips when connecting the sensor.
Materials for the sensor: 2x squares of non-conductive fabric, 2x squares of conductive fabric, conductive thread, regular thread, Velostat, sewing needle, scissors.
As shown above the side of the sensor labelled 1 is messy and less aesthetically pleasing. Sewing isn’t something I have done for years and so this was as much an exercise in practicing sewing as it was making an object used for sound. By the time I was ready to make side 2 I realised my mistakes and made the appearance much neater.
Following the Bela tutorial I used the example code and premade pressure sensor. I did this to make sure the wiring was correct and to see how mine should work. Once I was happy that everything was working I used alligator clip to male jumper wires to clip on to the conductive thread and attach to the breadboard.
Hardware set up: Bela Board, breadboard, 2x male to male jumper wires, 2x alligator clip to male jumper wire, resistor, pressure sensor.
To my surprise and delight, after attaching the completed sensor to a Bela board through a breadboard it worked! The next steps are to try the sensor with my own Puredata patches and make the sensor more visually aesthetic. In the next prototype, I will not use any conductive thread on the outside of the sensor as when contact is made with the conductive thread it interferes with the audio.
I enjoyed the experience of making something physical and using my hands. When the sensor worked, the potential of my project felt much more possible than ever before.
YouTube tutorial I followed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnoso-uHNfs&t=209s