The human identity is constructed upon a host of unique elements, but there is still nothing more recognizable about us than that desire to grow on a consistent basis. This desire to improve, no matter the situation, has empowered the world to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology appearing as a major member of the stated group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which guided us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look beyond the surface for a second, it will become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence and start what was a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went on to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue delivering the right goods. The same has grown to become increasingly evident over the recent past, and assuming one new discovery ends up shaking out just like we envision, it will only propel that trend towards greater much heights down the line.

The researching team at Cambridge University has successfully developed what they are touting as the next-generation smart textiles. According to certain reports, these textiles consist of ingredients like LEDs, sensors, energy harvesting, and storage. However, even though the stated features mark a massive breakthrough on their part, the thing that needs a mention here is how they allow you to manufacture such textiles in an inexpensive manner, while also achieving any shape or size. To contextualize the whole development, we must go back to when the team at Cambridge offered a validated demonstration, which claimed it’s possible to make woven displays at a large scale, but there was one notable problem with that discovery. You see, this previous experiment was done using specialized manual laboratory equipment; so therefore, it failed to consider the need to bank upon microelectronic fabrication facilities for manufacturing the material across other locations. Like you might have guessed by now, accessing the stated facilities was a challenge because they all served a high cost proposition. The new discovery, fortunately enough, takes a massive step towards enhancing the effort’s financial viability.

Talk about how intends to deliver on its promise, the pathway includes using an automated procedure to fabricate and package fiber devices such as energy storage devices, light-emitting diodes, and transistors with conventional fibers, either synthetic or natural, to build smart textiles. These integrated fiber devices were also interconnected by an automated laser welding method with electrically conductive adhesive. Notably, the researching team has even ensured that every single process was optimized to minimize the potential damage to the electronic components. This, in particular, would end up making the textiles durable enough to withstand the stretching of an industrial weaving machine.

“The flexibility of these textiles is absolutely amazing,” said Dr. Luigi Occhipinti, lead researcher of the study. “Not just in terms of their mechanical flexibility, but the flexibility of the approach, and to deploy sustainable and eco-friendly electronics manufacturing platforms that contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and enable real applications of smart textiles in buildings, car interiors and clothing. Our approach is quite unique in that way.”

Another element of the stated discovery was the researchers’ partnership with several textile manufacturers, a partnership which allowed them to develop patches of smart textiles of roughly 50×50 centimeters. If everything works out, then this size can even be scaled up to larger dimensions.

“These companies have well-established manufacturing lines with high throughput fiber extruders and large weaving machines that can weave a meter square of textiles automatically,” said Dr. Sanghyo Lee from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering and the paper’s first author.. “So when we introduce the smart fibers to the process, the result is basically an electronic system that is manufactured exactly the same way other textiles are manufactured.”