Engineering Multifunctional Spacer Fabrics Through Machine Knitting

Engineering Multifunctional Spacer Fabrics Through Machine Knitting Lea Albaugh, James McCann, Scott E Hudson, Lining Yao CHI '21: The 2021 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Session: Wearables, Tangibles, and Fabrics Abstract Machine knitting is an increasingly accessible fabrication technology for producing custom soft goods. However, recent machine knitting research has focused on knit shaping, or on adapting hand-knitting patterns. We explore a capability unique to machine knitting: producing multilayer spacer fabrics. These fabrics consist of two face layers connected by a monofilament filler yarn which gives the structure stiffness and volume. We show how to vary knit patterning and yarn parameters in spacer fabrics to produce tactile materials with embedded functionality for forming soft actuated mechanisms and sensors with tunable density, stiffness, material bias, and bristle properties. These soft mechanisms can be rapidly produced on a computationally-controlled v-bed knitting machine and integrated directly into soft objects. DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445564 WEB:: https://chi2021.acm.org/ Pre-recorded Presentations for the ACM CHI Virtual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 8-13, 2021