Danish Ohmatex , a pioneer in intelligent textile development, has won an EU contract for 50,000 Euro, to cover development of flexible socket connectors to advanced micro-sensors in professional protective clothing such as fire-fighting suits.

The development is a sub-contract to the European ProeTEX project that is an integrated research and development project under the EU 6th framework programme. The project has 23 partners and aims to develop new intelligent textile solutions for rescue services.

The contract is an extension of the development work that Ohmatex has carried out since its establishment in 2004, including amongst other things, development of conductive yarns , conductive textile cabling and elastics, and in particular integration and encapsulation of electronics in clothing. Ohmatex’ primary activities are customer specific developments.

Most recently, Ohmatex has helped Viking Life-Saving Equipment in Esbjerg, Denmark with development of the world’s first fire-fighters suit with integrated thermal sensor electronics . The “intelligent fire-suit” won the prestigious Danish Product Award 2007 in the electronics category.

Everyone who has worked with integration of electronic components into garments is aware that interconnection issues are currently one of the major challenges to commercial manufacture. With this contract, issues including washability, comfort (softness), safety and durability are now put into focus.

 

”The development contract with ProeTEX is an important step towards a European standard for integration of micro-electronics in clothing, and we are very proud that Ohmatex has been chosen as the partner for this work” declares Christian Dalsgaard, who is director and founder of Ohmatex, who are located in INCUBA Science Park in Aarhus.

Indeed, the interconnection between garments and electronic components is one of the biggest challenges in Wearable Electronic and one of the least developed area as of yet. The cooperation between Ohmatex and ProeTEX might just be able to close this huge gap and help the creation of Interactive Clothing, be it in the professional area or the fashion area.


About Ohmatex:
Ohmatex ApS (see www.ohmatex.dk ) work with development of intelligent textile solutions arising from the combination of textiles and garments (including shoes) with IT technologies (most often micro-electronics, sensors etc.). A few years ago, intelligent textiles were just a fantasy and many futuristic scenarios with little foothold in reality still exist, although the field is gradually maturing through new research and technology development.
Contact: Director Christian Dalsgaard: tel. +45 86205168, mobile +45 40966951, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

About ProeTEX
ProeTEX (see www.proetex.org ) is a European cooperative project for development of advanced electronic textiles for fire-fighters and rescue services. The aim is to develop a number of new micro- and nano-technologies which can be integrated into fibres and textiles in order to improve the safety and comfort of rescue service personnel.  Contact: Coordinator, Prof. Annalisa Bonfiglio, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
University of Cagliari, Italy: tel. +39 (0) 70 6755764, mobile +39 3204372939 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it