A novel intelligent textile technology based on silicon flexible skins

This paper reports the prototype development of a novel intelligent textile technology based on the integration of silicon flexible skins with regular textiles. This novel approach enables the embedding of sensing and computational components into textiles without compromising the flexibility and wearability of the textiles. Silicon flexible skins have been successfully fabricated using micromachining techniques. A prototype of intelligent textiles has been realized by stitching a silicon flexible skin onto a piece of KEVLAR® fabric. Preliminary tests have demonstrated excellent durability of the prototype.