Knitting &Technology
Intarsia – Not Just a Pretty Pattern!
Intarsia knitting is a technique that is often used to construct multicoloured patterns in a textile. It creates these patterns, motifs or pictures without yarn floats across the back of the fabric. In addition it creates a smooth and lightweight textile due to the lack of said yarn floats and is predominately seen in weft knitting either flatbed or circular. Finally, it twists the new yarn with the existing to prevent holes within the structure.
Simply put, it is an extraordinarily versatile knit technique.
Santoni X
Oh, and it is not just used for pretty patterns. At Footfalls & Heartbeats the intarsia technique is critical to our sensor arrays and data collection. Our technical knitting process uses a significant amount of electrically conductive yarn and for this to be deployed effectively it cannot be “floating” around in the structure. If the yarns touched, the sensor arrays that we use would short and the valuable insights we gather from humans would be lost.
Intarsia is definitely our friend. It stops any casual shorting and also allows us to size and structure our sensors as we wish within the fabric substrate. Knitting as a centuries old process has enormous relevance for 21st century technologies.
As a knitting technique it slows production a little but allows a lot of complexity. When you are knitting the future of proactive healthcare that is a massive advantage. It is also worth noting that the genius engineers at Stoll and Santoni are the “Leonardo Da Vincis” of our time as without an extraordinary ability to engineer such complexity the knit structures at Footfalls would be impossible.
Stoll ADF
Bravo to all.
Technology – Always an Intricate Structure!
Footfalls’ technology is based on one of the most complex 3D micromechanical structures known. This structure has n degrees of freedom and in the majority of cases can be stretched, pressed, squashed, folded, washed, dried and generally abused and still return to almost exactly the same shape in which it started.
Knit structures are 3D wonders of the human imagination. They appear flat and smooth while still being able to fit over almost any organic shape. The ability to “shape shift” is fundamental to their role in our technology. To gather information from the human form whilst moving, the sensor technology must move, twist and bend and often follow that form change in real time.
The Future
The “textile is the sensor” as we always say. Our technology is literally knitted into the fabric of your daily life. To allow all humanity to lead a happier and healthier life it has always been our aim to provide cost effective remote monitoring systems and what is more cost effective than the clothes you wear, the fabrics you lie or sit on or the textiles that colour your life.
And as always machine washable!
Have a Very Merry Xmas from the team at Footfalls and see you all in 2025.
