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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Key facts

Sectors covered: Technological innovation in textiles and clothing

Innovation priority: Advanced digitised manufacturing, value chains and business models

Start: 9 September

ELIIT funding: €70 000

The 3In-TEX project is a partnership between Tessitura Pertile, a family-owned fabric producer, and the Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials (CeNTI), a private, non-profit research institute.

What's the goal?

The main aim of 3In-TEX is to develop smart textiles for different types of furniture, such as sofas and armchairs. The textile has touch sensors produced by screen printing techniques, allowing remote interaction with domestic devices directly from the armrest, specifically lights, doors, and blinds. In addition, an emergency button was included to alert caregivers.

This solution should promote higher comfort for the elderly and people recovering from strokes by offering easy and intuitive interaction. Moreover, a presence button was integrated into the seat area so a caregiver will know whether or not the user is sitting in a sofa or armchair. The electronics control was specifically designed for 3In-TEX to enable communication with multiple devices through a Bluetooth protocol.

Key challenges

A significant challenge addressed by the project was the need to ensure the users’ comfort and the adaptability of the product to their sofas, armchairs and home devices. While the integration of printed sensors was seamless, the mechanical properties of other components needed to be considered when defining their integration method and position.

Bluetooth communication with multiple devices was also one of the main challenges. This was because it was necessary to guarantee the correct actuation with each individual functionality without interferences between them.

How has ELIIT helped?

ELIIT support has been beneficial for 3In-TEX. It has enabled the partners to advance their research and learn more, thereby driving their actions forward and helping them to reach the project goals. ELIIT supported the partners in better defining the final function and configuration of the products. It also helped with defining the target customer and business model to be adopted to gain a position in the market.

ELLIT supported the partners in putting the basis for a fruitful and long-lasting partnership between the technology provider and the company. The next step towards scaling up the technology at an industrial level and commercialising it has already been taken.

Meet the partners

SME: Tessitura Pertile

Country: Italy
Founded: 1954

Tech provider: CeNTI – Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials

Country: Portugal
Year of creation: 2006