... be as hard-wearing and flexible as the textile in which they are integrated. In addition, the jacket should not only protect the wearer from wind and weather. The entire microelectronic system must also be insensitive to moisture. The electronic system is based on a stretchable circuit carrier on a flexible film of thermoplastic polyurethane. It was developed at Fraunhofer IZM, according to Christian Dils, a Fraunhofer researcher at the TexLab. Equipped with sensors, copper conductor tracks and LEDS, it is laminated onto a textile substrate. "The circuit carrier can be produced using conventional manufacturing processes in the PCB industry and is therefore a basic prerequisite for series production," says Dils.