Evaluation IoT Platform for Textile-Based Elements

Abstract

This paper presents the design of an IoT test platform developed for the testing and visualization of textile-based electronic components. The system integrates various textile peripherals, including flexible LED ribbons, textile antennas for sub-GHz band (ISM), and fabric-embedded sensors, enabling real-time monitoring, data acquisition, and performance assessment in dynamic environments. The platform is built around an ESP32 microcontroller, featuring a LoRa module based on the SX1278 chip (862-931 MHz) for long-range wireless connectivity. Additionally, it supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, offering flexible communication options depending on application needs. It includes I2C, SPI, and UART interfaces, ensuring seamless integration with textile-based sensors and other peripherals. A rechargeable battery with monitoring enables autonomous operation, making the system suitable for portable and wearable applications. To enhance communication reliability, the platform incorporates specialized error-correction algorithms, reducing the impact of signal degradation in textile-based interconnects. The platform facilitates the evaluation of textile antennas, sensor performance, and RF behavior in sub-GHz ISM bands, such as 868 MHz, commonly used in IoT and wireless sensor networks. The acquired data is processed and can be visualized in real time, providing valuable insights into the feasibility of textile-integrated electronics for smart fabric applications, wearable technology, and scalable textile IoT solutions.