This week I decided to experiment with some soft circuits, by generating one of the many parts of my final project. I need to generate movement, so I'll use a DC motor, connected to a LilyPad Arduino. The circuit will be created from conductive threads. Here's the complete BOM:

1. 2 3.3 volts coin cell batteries
2. 1 LilyPad Arduino
3. 1 L298 module for Arduino (H-bridge)
4. 1 DC motor
5. 1 soft sensor (it's a variation of the stretch sensor I made during week 5)
6. 1 5 kOhm resistor
7. Conductive thread
8. Some jumpers
9. Copper coated Vinyl

The idea is that the speed of the DC motor will change depending on how much pressure is being applied to the sensor. Here's the code:

int in1 = 9;
int in2 = 10;
int enable = 11;
int soft_sensor = A5;
int Lectura;
 
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(in1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(in2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(enable, OUTPUT);
pinMode(soft_sensor, INPUT);
}
 
void loop() {
digitalWrite(in1,HIGH);
digitalWrite(in2,LOW); //DC motor is constantly ON);
Lectura = analogRead(soft_sensor); //Read soft_sensor
Lectura = map(Lectura,0,1023,0,255); //Turn analog readings to PWM
analogWrite(enable,Lectura);
 
}

I used the conductive thread to generate the ways connecting all the components. In general, I connected my circuits through the top face of the fabric, but when I had to connect two points through a way which would intersect another, I used the bottom face of the fabric.