• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.435-444
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• 2011

The development of ubiquitous healthcare technology and portable electronic devices requires new energy sources for providing continuous power supply. This study particularly focuses on an energy harvesting system capable of charging energy using clothing. One of the sources for energy harvesting is heat energy, which is the difference in temperature of the body and the surrounding environment. In this study, the skin temperature distribution of the human body was empirically measured to determine the basic materials needed to develop heat energy harvesting clothing. The distribution of skin temperature in different sections of the human body was analyzed. The analysis found that the skin temperature of the upper body was higher than that of the lower body. The area close to the heart with a lot of blood flow was especially high. The skin temperature of the back side of the body, such as the back of the neck, upper back, and waist, was higher than that of the front side of the body. As for the arms, the skin temperature of the upper arms was higher than that of the lower arms, and the skin temperature of the back side of the arms was lower than that of the front and the flank side of the arms. The difference in the average skin temperature and the environment temperature was highest at the back of the neck, and thereby is considered to be the most appropriate section to integrate the heat energy harvesting function and structure. The following sections had the next highest difference in values, listed in descending order: the back of the waist, the sides of shoulders, the front chest area, the front side of the upper arms, and the front abdomen. Based on the skin temperatures of the different sections of the human body, this study outlines the basic guidelines for developing heat energy harvesting clothing.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.125-132
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• 2013

Recently, the consciousness of energy crisis is rapidly growing and sustainable eco-friendly energy sources are becoming issue. Therefore the portable electronic device requires new energy sources for providing continuous power supply and the power energy harvesting system of the human body that enables the power-harvesting research requests anytime, anywhere. One of the sources for energy harvesting is heat energy, which is the difference in temperature of the body and the surrounding environment. We tried to analyze the temperature difference between the environmental temperature and the temperature inside clothing according to the structure of the closed portion. And we examined the temperature difference between the environmental temperature and the temperature inside clothing according to the material of the clothing. The analysis showed that we have been able to get different results at parts of the body in the temperature inside clothing according to the structure of clothing. In upper torso of the chest and back, the temperature inside clothing of 'closed structure' was higher than the temperature inside clothing of 'opened structure'. In the section of arm and leg, it was reduced the difference of temperature inside clothing between 'closed structure' and 'opened structure'. It was particularly noticeable in the section of leg. The results of analysis of the difference between the environmental temperature and the temperature inside clothing according to the material of the clothing, in both cases of the two materials, 'closed structure' was higher than the 'opened structure' in the difference value between the environmental temperature and the temperature inside clothing. There was a difference according to the material in the section of leg. In this study, we outlined the basic guidelines for developing heat energy harvesting clothing by exploring the structure and material of clothing suitable for the heat energy harvesting.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.85-94
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• 2013

Recently, researches of piezoelectric energy harvesting were tried and in this study, a piezoelectric energy harvesting clothes was developed. First, piezoelectric energy harvesting zone on the extremities were drawn by 3D motion capturing and as a result, the hip, the elbow, and the knee were determined. A new structure of piezoelectric harvester was developed for appling to clothes. Because it needed to be flexible and sensitive for human body, the 2 layer stacked structure was proposed. A prototype of seamless garment was designed for a harvesting clothes because it needed to be body-tight and not to restrict the movement. High peak-to-peak voltages were acquired from the energy harvesting clothes.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.221-229
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• 2017

This study researched the needs of smart fashion items using energy harvesting for outdoor wearers and surveyed the application areas and design preferences for energy-harvesting systems based on outdoor activities. A total of 217 subjects were surveyed. Subjects who had at least 3 years of experience in outdoor activities were selected in order to increase the reliability of the research results. The survey investigated lifestyles based on outdoor activities, outdoor clothing and electronic equipment usage, purchase style, utilization plan, and design preference for energy-harvesting clothing and supplies. The results showed that 62.7% of the respondents had experience in outdoor activities for more than five years. 96.3% of the subjects carried electronic equipment, and 179 participants(82.5%) experienced discomfort due to battery consumption/dead batteries during outdoor activities. 78.4% were interested in smat fashion items using energy-harvesting technology, and the energy-conversion technology that was useful for outdoor activities was "kinetic energy"(74.7%). Participants showed a high preference for a detachable type(30.9%) and a city type(69.1%) that can be worn in outdoor activities as well as in general life. The preferred location of the electric power-charging device was the "Hem area of top garment"(35.9%), and the reason for this selection was that it was easy to operate and did not interfere with movement. The data from this paper can be used as a basis for product planning and product design for energy-harvesting apparel designers and supply developers for outdoor clothing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1224-1239
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• 2020

This study develops a wearable solar energy harvesting device that absorbs solar energy to generate and store power which can be used during outdoor activities by users even after dark. For this study, a prototype hat for outdoor activities at night was developed after the design of a solar energy harvesting generation, storage, and delivery system was designed that could store energy to light up LEDs. First, the main control board of the system was designed to integrate the charging function, the darkness detection circuit, the battery voltage sensing circuit, and the LED driving circuit in order to reduce bulkiness and minimize the connection structure. It was designed to increase convenience. Second, the system was designed as a wearable fashion product that connected each part with fiber bands and manufacturing it so as to be detachable from the hat. Third, charging and LED operation tests show that the battery is fully charged after 5 hours even in winter when the illuminance value is low. In addition, the LED operation experiment verified the effectiveness of a buffered system that could operate the LEDs for about 3 hours at night.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.213-218
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• 2023

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as a highly promising energy harvesting technology capable of harnessing mechanical energy from various environmental vibrations. Their versatility in material selection and efficient conversion of mechanical energy into electric energy make them particularly attractive. TENGs can serve as a valuable technology for self-powered sensor operation in preparation for the IoT era. Additionally, they demonstrate potential for diverse applications, including energy sources for implanted medical devices (IMDs), neural therapy, and wound healing. In this review, we summarize the potential use of this universally applicable triboelectric energy harvesting technology in the disinfection and blocking of pathogens. By integrating triboelectric energy harvesting technology into human clothing, masks, and other accessories, we propose the possibility of blocking pathogens, along with technologies for removing airborne or waterborne infectious agents. Through this, we suggest that triboelectric energy harvesting technology could be an efficient alternative to existing pathogen removal technologies in the future.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.503-518
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the design of safety suits based on energy-harvesting technology, particularly targeting street cleaners who must work at night with high mobility. The design focuses on applying lightweight energy-harvesting tools and illuminant into the wear. The design development reflects feedback from testers collected via survey constituting a key methodology. The development process has two main stages. Each stage uses a process of design prototyping, internal examination, test sampling, test wearing, and wearers' feedback via survey that consists of questions on visibility, wearing convenience, and washability. The first stage results show the design of safety suits with energy-harvested LED illuminant inserted and the survey results collected from street cleaners dressed in 4 sample and 80 actual suits in total. Improved based on the first-stage survey results, the second stage designs the suits with detachable energy-harvested EL tape. From these 5 sample and 30 actual second-stage suits, the additional survey indicates that this second-stage design facilitates more visibility and convenience in washing and wearing than the first-stage design. Accordingly, one can expect that this new design can apply not only to safety suits for night workers but also to handicapped or outdoor sportswear applications in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.193-205
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• 2002

To evaluate farmers' workload during harvesting grapes in summer, this study investigated farmers' physiological, psychological responses, work postures and thermal environment around in the field. This field study was conducted in the Anseong County of Kyonggi Province at the end of August. Five career farmers (1 male, 4 females) volunteered as subjects. Three of them were over their sixties. During harvesting grapes in the field, physiological responses were monitored continuously. 1. Air temperature (T/sub a/), air humidity(H/sub a/), black globe temperature(T/sub g/), air velocity and WBGT around the grape field were 26.9℃, 77.7%RH, 32.8℃, 0.08㎧ and 26.3℃, respectively. Because farmers started the harvesting task in early morning, thermal environments weren't conditions to give farmers severe heat strain. 2. The percentage of the work postures was larger in order of standing, walking, and bending one's back posture. Particularly, the percentage of standing posture with raising both arms above shoulder of two farmers was up to 29% and 61% of the total work duration. 3. Rectal temperature (T/sub re/), mean skin temperature (T/sub sk/), clothing microclimate temperature (T/sub cl/) on the chest and the back, heart rate (HR) and energy expenditure (EE) were 37.2℃, 33.1℃, 32.0℃, 32.4℃, 88bpm and 1.3 Kca1/㎡/min respectively. In the point of these physiological results, we evaluated that the harvesting task was a moderate work. 4. All farmers expressed‘hard, hot, humid and slightly uncomfortable’ at the end of works for each subjective questionnaire. The grape harvesting tasks were not evaluated as a very hard work in the point of physiological work standards. But we considered 1) inappropriate work posture (standing posture with raising both arms above shoulder) and 2) farmers' age as burden factors. These findings suggest that adding adequate protective clothing/equipments for farmers may contribute to maintain their body temperature within the normal range, stabilize HR and decrease psychological strain.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.1210-1215
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• 2016

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.25-38
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to protect workers and pedestrians from accidents at night or bad weather by attaching optical fiber to existing safety clothing that is made only with fluorescent fabrics and retroreflective materials. A safety vest was designed and manufactured by applying optical fiber, and energy-harvesting technology was developed. The safety vest was designed to emit light using the automatic flashing of optical fibers attached to the film, and an energy harvester was manufactured and attached to drive the light emission of the optical fiber more continuously. As a result, first, the vest wearer' body was recognized from a distance through the optical fiber and retroreflection, which helped prevent accidents. Thus, this concept helps in saving lives by preventing accidents during night-time work on the roadside or activities of rescue crew and sports activities, or by quickly finding the point of an accident with a signal that changes the optical fiber light emission. Second, to use the wasted energy, a piezoelectric-element power generation system was developed and the piezoelectric-harvesting device was mounted. Potentially, energy was efficiently produced by activating the effective charging amount of the battery part and charging it auxiliary. In the existing safety vest, detecting the person wearing the vest is almost impossible in the absence of ambient light. However, in this study, the wearer could be found within 100 m by the light emission from the safety vest even with no ambient light. Therefore, in this study, we will help in preventing and reducing accidents by developing smart safety clothing using optical fiber and energy harvester attached to save lives.