The automotive industry's turnover is now approaching a value of an annual EUR 2 trillion. Developments in fibre-based car heating systems could lead to wider applications for smart fabrics in vehicles. As part of the EU FP6 STELLA project (stretchable electronics for large area applications), Freudenberg NOK Mechatronics has demonstrated how a flexible heating material can be employed for ambient heating almost anywhere in the car. This need will become more important as electric cars are introduced because the engine will not provide enough heating to keep the car warm. Following on from the achievement of STELLA is PASTA (integrating platform for advanced smart textile applications), a four-year project, co-ordinated by Belgian research centre IMEC, which could prove very significant if its aim of developing large-area smart textiles reaches fruition. Within PASTA, the proposed solutions for integration of electronics into textiles will cover a whole range of components, from ultra-small LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to complex multichip modules. In addition, a system design task will tackle the power distribution and system partitioning aspects to provide a complete solution for the integration of a distributed sensor/actuator system in fabric. In another interesting development, Japan's Kuraray Living has recently created a new fabric heater by weaving multifilament yarns coated with Bayer CNT dispersions (carbon nanotube) to make them conductive. The resulting fabric generates heat homogeneously all over its surface as a result of its outstanding conductivity. The fabric heater is lightweight, thin and compact and shows a long-lasting bending resistance. It can be used for, among other things, car seat heating.
In the hot seat
Intelligente Gewebe in Automobilen: Entwicklungen bei den Sitzheizungen
Future Materials ; May ; 42-45
2011
4 Seiten, 3 Bilder
Article (Journal)
English