An item may include fabric having insulating and conductive yarns or other strands of material. The conductive strands may form signal paths. Electrical components can be mounted to the fabric. Each electrical component may have an electrical device such as a semiconductor die that is mounted on an interposer substrate. The interposer may have contacts that are soldered to the conductive strands. A protective cover may encapsulate portions of the electrical component. To create a robust connection between the electrical component and the fabric, the conductive strands may be threaded through recesses in the electrical component. The recesses may be formed in the interposer or may be formed in a protective cover on the interposer. Conductive material in the recess may be used to electrically and/or mechanically connect the conductive strand to a bond pad in the recess. Thermoplastic material may be used to seal the solder joint.

An item may include fabric or other materials formed from intertwined strands of material. The item may include circuitry that produces signals. The strands of material may include non-conductive strands and conductive strands. The conductive strands may carry the signals produced by the circuitry. Each conductive strand may have a strand core, a conductive coating on the strand core, and an insulating layer on the conductive coating. The strand cores may be strands formed from polymer. The conductive coating may be formed from metal. Electrical connections may be made between intertwined conductive strands by selectively removing portions of the outer insulating layer to expose the conductive cores of overlapping conductive strands. A conductive material such as solder or conductive epoxy may be applied to the exposed portions of the conductive cores to electrically and mechanically connect the overlapping conductive strands.

Weaving equipment may include warp strand positioning equipment that positions warp strands and weft strand positioning equipment that inserts weft strands among the warp strands to form fabric. The fabric may include insulating strands and conductive strands. The conductive strands may be coupled to electrical components. The warp strand positioning equipment may position the warp strands to form a shed. Component insertion equipment may be used to insert electrical components into the shed. The weaving equipment may have a reed. The reed may be used to help position an electrical component in the fabric. The weaving equipment may have take-down equipment and individually controllable warp fiber positioning and tensioning devices.

Techniques for energy production are disclosed. A kinetic fabric for use in a kinetically-activated energy production system is implemented. The kinetic fabric comprises a three-dimensional, layer-based flexible matrix that regains shape after deformation. The fabric further comprises a kinetically activated energy source layer supported between layers of the flexible matrix. The fabric further includes a flexible electrical connection that provides an electrical path between the energy source layer and a terminal on the flexible matrix. The kinetic fabric is deformed with mechanical agitation, and energy is harvested from the energy source layer through the terminal on the flexible matrix. Various embodiments are disclosed including flags, moving vehicles, and shade structures, among others.

A stretchable fabric signal path may include a conductive strand located between first and second outer fabric layers. The outer fabric layers may be formed from intertwined strands of elastic material. The conductive strand may have a wavy shape to accommodate stretching of the stretchable fabric signal path. First and second inner fabric layers may be located between the outer stretchable fabric layers. The inner fabric layers may be formed from intertwined strands of non-elastic material. The inner fabric layers may have strands that are intertwined with the outer fabric layers to serve as anchor points for maintaining the shape of the conductive strand as the stretchable fabric signal path expands and contracts. The outer fabric layers and inner fabric layers may be woven. The conductive strand may convey electrical signals such as audio signals, power signals, data signals, or other suitable signals.

A fabric-based item may include fabric such as woven fabric having insulating and conductive yarns or other strands of material. The conductive yarns may form signal paths. Electrical components can be embedded within pockets in the fabric. Each electrical component may have an electrical device such as a semiconductor die that is mounted on an interposer substrate. The electrical device may be a light-emitting diode, a sensor, an actuator, or other electrical device. The electrical device may have contacts that are soldered to contacts on the interposer. The interposer may have additional contacts that are soldered to the signal paths. The fabric may have portions that form transparent windows overlapping the electrical components or that have other desired attributes.

A luminous fiber may include a flexible printed circuit board extending in a length direction of the fiber, at least one electrically conductive trace being formed on the flexible printed circuit board, at least one light emitting component being arranged on the flexible printed circuit board and being electrically connected to the trace, and a lateral strengthening structure for strengthening the luminous fiber in lateral direction perpendicular to the length direction. The lateral strengthening structure may include two frame bars, which are formed on the flexible printed circuit board and which extend in the length direction of the fiber. The lateral strengthening structure may include several lateral support elements, which are formed on the flexible printed circuit board between the frame bars and which are coupled to the frame bars.

A removable electronics device for pre-fabricated sensor assemblies of interactive objects is provided. The removable electronics device includes one or more processors, a first communication interface configured to communicatively couple with one or more remote computing devices, and a second communication interface configured to communicatively couple with a plurality of pre-fabricated sensor assemblies having touch sensors with different sensor layouts. The removable electronics module can analyze, in response to being physically coupled to a first pre-fabricated sensor assembly, first touch data to detect one or more pre-defined motions based on one or more first pre-defined parameters associated with the first touch sensor. The removable electronics module can analyze, in response to being physically coupled to a second pre-fabricated sensor assembly, second touch data to detect the one or more pre-defined motions based on one or more second pre-defined parameters associated with the second touch sensor.

An optoelectronic fiber, an apparatus for manufacturing an optoelectronic fiber and a method for manufacturing an optoelectronic fiber are disclosed. In an embodiment an optoelectronic fiber includes at least one carrier extending in a longitudinal direction, optoelectronic components arranged on the at least one carrier and a sheath extending in the longitudinal direction and surrounding the at least one carrier and the optoelectronic components, wherein the sheath includes at least one thread guided around the at least one carrier and the optoelectronic components and/or at least one tape helically wound around the at least one carrier and the optoelectronic components, wherein at least one metal wire is integrated into the sheath and twisted, braided or interwoven with the at least one thread, and wherein the at least one metal wire is electrically coupled to at least one of the optoelectronic components.

A textile-based computing platform for wearing by a wearer on both sides of a joint of a body of the wearer, the platform comprising: a textile body shaped as a sleeve including a first zone for positioning adjacent to the joint, a second zone opposite the first zone for positioned on another side of the joint, and an intermediate zone for positioning over the joint; a fabric sensor incorporated into a textile layer making up the textile body, a fabric actuator incorporated into the textile layer making up the textile body, an electrical connector mounted on the textile body for connecting to a controller computing device; an electronic circuit coupling the electrical connector to the fabric sensor and the fabric actuator, the circuit electrically conductive threads incorporated into the textile layer.