The AUTONOTEX project was launched on the 25th of November 2015.
The main objective is the development of reactive and connected:
– individual protected clothing
– hospital linen
that will disseminate body-related information to their environment.
Thanks to a combination of new piezoelectric composite fibers, it will be possible to recharge or maintain batteries of mobile devices, thus resulting in energetically autonomous clothes.
Electronics will be embedded on two to three component threads through using nanotechnology for molecular compounding, so that customers may enjoy new uses and services meeting their expectations.
Coordinated by the Mulliez-Flory Group, the AUTONOTEX project gathers ten partners from complementary areas such as electronics, signal processing, chemical engineering and medicine. This new cross-disciplinary approach will foster deep changes regarding processes and design, assembling and weaving methods of the traditional textile industry.
Bpifrance supports the project as part of the PIAVE (Projets d’investissement d’avenir i.e. Industrial Projects of the Future) calls for proposals.
ARKEMA Group takes part in AUTONOTEX as an expert on fluoropolymers and piezoelectric polymers. The Group is not financed within the framework of the project.
As a service provider, the company PNO Consultants supports all partners throughout the project regarding the financial and administrative management, the overall coordination and the dissemination and exploitation of the results of the R&D project.
Autonotex project
The AUTONOTEX project aims at industrializing and launching on the market the very first autonomous connected clothing.
Said clothing is meant to be at the heart of the manufacturing of:
- professional underwear for soldiers and firefighters
- hospital linen for patient monitoring
Development of new generation textile will be carried out via extrusion technologies and spinning tri-components filaments. To this end, AUTONOTEX will resort to a device on the cutting edge of technology, a machine that both melts and spins fibers. To date, there only are four of them worldwide.
The project provides an excellent opportunity, on the one hand, to gain a better understanding:
- of what is stake regarding the inclusion of new trades and the digitalization of the textile industry
- and on the other hand, to propose a new organization of the manufacturing process for future textile factories
Through the development of a mutualized industry sector that combines textile, hardware and software, the AUTONOTEX project will pave the way towards mass industrialization of connected clothing.
