Loomia’s Soft Electronics Components Targets E-Textiles for Industrial Applications

It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to the progress humanity has made in electronic technology over the past half-century. But as incredible as that has been, those rigid PCBs are also limiting. In many ways, the practical realities of PCBs drive design, rather than the other way around.

That is why it is exciting to see real progress in the fields of soft, flexible, and textile electronics. They enable a whole new approach to design that ignores the constraints of traditional rigid PCBs. That freedom provides the potential for innovative new products and Loomia is one company developing particularly interesting components in that realm.

One product category in which Loomia excels is pressure sensing. Years ago, we covered a novel DIY input device called Calascere that accepted user interaction through a soft, flexible, translucent silicon pad. And its key component was Loomia’s 9-point flexible pressure matrix, which produces an analog signal proportional to the force on each of the points.

And unlike many components manufactured for commercial use, Loomia’s components are accessible and maker-friendly. Those pressure matrices are easy to monitor with development boards, such as the Arduino UNO Rev3 used for the Calascere device.

Loomia’s pressure matrices are available in different sizes and configurations, and they’re just the start. They also offer other components that are just as trailblazing — all being purpose-built for flexible and e-textile applications.

Loomia has a line of human-machine interface components and switches. That includes both tactile mechanical switches and capacitive touch buttons, which can be integrated into flexible or software devices. Their capacitive touch antennas enable new kinds of interactions.

For example, consider presence sensing for beds. That is a desirable use case in the world of home automation and it is common to see people looking for a reliable way to detect when a person is in bed (to, for instance, set a security alarm or turn off lights). Loomia’s antennas can be integrated into the bedding or a mattress topper to introduce that functionality.

One final product type Loomia offers, which we find intriguing, is a line of flexible heaters. Constructed with mesh conductors, they can fold and flex to conform to different shapes. The obvious application is for something like a heated blanket, but that just scratches the surface. Loomia envisions their flexible heaters being used in the automotive industry to make touch surfaces (like steering wheels and door panels) warm.

That idea is particularly intriguing when combined with sensing hardware, like Loomia’s antennas. The CEO of Loomia, Madison Maxey, recently posted on LinkedIn to demonstrate the concept, with a flexible heater that warms up when it detects a person’s skin nearby. That’s especially enticing for electric vehicles, which need to conserve battery power.

If you want to try a Loomia product for yourself, you can request a sample on their website. And Loomia published a tutorial here on Hackster that will walk you through monitoring a Loomia Mega Pressure Matrix with an Arduino UNO board.