Karl Mayer is extending its Textile Makerspace concept to its North American operations, to engage with developers product developers from multiple industries.

Karl Mayer offers trendsetting solutions and impulses for the textile industry and, to this end, looks beyond the company’s usual purview, the leading warp knitting machine builder said today. In particular, connecting the textiles industry with new technologies offers diverse potential for innovations, the company added.

To tap into this potential, Karl Mayer has developed its Textile Makerspace. The platform is intended to encourage exchange and offer interested parties the opportunity to test new technologies for their projects. Among other things, the focus of Textile Circuit is on the promising topics of smart textiles and wearables.

Innovators from various fields are investigating the possibilities offered by string bar technology to incorporate electrically conductive yarns directly on the machine. Initial results include comfortable arm cuffs for controlling robots, textile charging stations for inductively charging smartphones and a T-shirt that measures vital functions.

Further projects with field-based partners are underway at the headquarters in Obertshausen.

Since the end of 2020, customers can now also develop and implement ideas for e-textiles at Karl Mayer North America. A modified standard machine and competent service technicians are available for this purpose in Greensboro. Textile Technology Product Developer Sophia Krinner, who was responsible for setting up Textile Circuit, also provides support from head office. The most recent IDTechEx in November 2019 also encouraged the expansion of the Makerspace area through capacity in Greensboro.

At the event focussing on new technology, Karl Mayer successfully presented itself as a competent partner in the production of e-textiles and answered numerous specific project enquiries from innovative partners based in the USA. Sophia Krinner is looking forward to a variety of projects and challenges. “Customers can come to us with their ideas and work with us to try out different ways to make their ideas a reality,” she says.

Textile Makerspace Website