KAIST Develops 'Electronic Textile' Enabling Customized Training for Individual Soldiers

An electronic textile (E-textile) platform capable of reflecting the individual characteristics of soldiers and the dynamics of combat situations has been developed. This technology achieves both robustness and cost-effectiveness suitable for real-world deployment on the battlefield.

KAIST announced on June 25 that a research team led by Professor Steve Park from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a wearable electronic textile platform using an innovative technology that 'draws' electronic circuits directly onto fabric.

(From left) Professor Steve Park, PhD candidate Kyusun Park (Army Major). Provided by KAIST

The wearable electronic textile platform developed by the research team combines 3D printing technology with advanced materials engineering to enable the direct printing of flexible and highly durable sensors and electrodes onto fabric. This allows for the collection of precise movement and biometric data from individual soldiers, making it possible to provide customized training models.

Traditional methods for manufacturing electronic textiles were either too complex or limited in their ability to be customized for individuals. To overcome these limitations, the research team adopted an additive manufacturing technique called Direct Ink Writing (DIW) 3D printing.

This technology enables the direct deposition of special inks that function as sensors and electrodes onto textile substrates in desired patterns, allowing for flexible designs without the need for complex mask fabrication processes.

The core of the technology developed by the research team lies in the development of high-performance functional inks based on advanced materials engineering.

The team created a strain and bending sensor ink by combining a flexible styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymer with conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), resulting in an ink that can stretch up to 102% and maintain stable performance even after 10,000 repeated tests.

This means that accurate data can be consistently obtained even during the intense movements of soldiers.

In addition, advanced materials technology was applied to realize an 'interconnect electrode' that electrically connects the upper and lower layers of the fabric.

The team developed an electrode ink by combining silver (Ag) flakes with rigid polystyrene polymers, precisely controlling the impregnation level of the ink into the fabric. This enabled effective connection of both sides or multilayer structures of the textile, paving the way for the fabrication of wearable electronic systems with integrated sensors and electrodes in multilayer configurations.

The performance of the developed platform was verified through experiments monitoring human movement. The research team printed the electronic textile onto major joint areas of clothing?such as the shoulders, elbows, and knees?allowing real-time measurement of movement and posture changes during activities such as running, jumping jacks, and push-ups.

The team also demonstrated the potential for applications such as monitoring breathing patterns using a smart mask, and recognizing objects and complex tactile information through machine learning by printing multiple sensors and electrodes onto gloves. These processes demonstrate that the electronic textile platform is effective in precisely analyzing the movement dynamics of soldiers.

Professor Park stated, "This research was focused on securing fundamental technology that can provide customized training according to combat roles and positions, thereby enhancing the combat power and survivability of military personnel. We hope these research outcomes will contribute to scientific and technological advancement and be recognized as technology that can be practically applied and utilized in the military."

This research was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the National Research Foundation of Korea. Kyusun Park, a PhD candidate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST and an Army Major, participated as the first author, while Professor Steve Park served as the supervising professor. The study was also published in the May 27 issue of the international journal 'npj Flexible Electronics,' which covers electrical, electronic, and materials engineering fields.