within the series represents its (empirically determined) tendency to accept charge from contact with other mate- rials in the series. The further apart two materials are in the series, the more charge will be transferred between them during contact. repelled from the surface. This effective current flow through air [17] is known as corona discharge and can be observed by rubbing PTFE and nylon paddles together briefly to build up a charge then slowly pulling them apart. As they separate, a faint crackling will be heard indicating corona discharge. Therefore, we expect the surface charge Fig. 2 Detail of high-voltage measurement technique: a 100 MQ resistor in series with the 1MQ measurement impedance forms a 1:101 voltage divider Fig. 3. Voltage and power output of the nylon test paddle as the PTFE test paddle slides from left to right and back over it at a frequency of about 4 Hz; two charging events are shown. Note that charging only occurs for relative motion in one direction. Spikes around the voltage peaks correspond to discharges of the neon lamp across the paddle output. Each charging event has an average energy of 5.6 uJ and the average output power is 22.5 11.W Fig. 4 Inside view of prototype skirt panel. 10 electrodes (each ~2.5 cm x 10 cm) were cut out of conductive organza and affixed to the nylon substrate using spray fabric adhesive. Diodes were soldered to sections of copper braid and sewn across the organza strips. Two additional sections of copper braid were sewn to the terminal electrodes to allow connection to external circuitry Electrodes can be glued onto a backing fabric as long as the glue doesn’t fully encase the areas of the electrode Fig. 5 Voltage and power output of prototype nylon skirt panel as a PTFE sheet is rubbed (with light pressure) back and forth at a frequency of about 2 Hz across the vertical centerline of the panel as pictured above. Four charging events are shown, and a strong asymmetry is visible in the output voltage due to the diode ladder. Average output power over the entire | s interval is 162.2 n»W Fig. 6 Schematic of prototype energy-harvesting circuit and LED display Fig. 8 Sp4rkl3 skirt panel pattern. Panels were fabricated using similar materials and techniques as in the prototype panel but on a larger scale (16 electrodes with a total area of about 156 in* (~0.1 m’). Terminal electrodes (+ and —) were fabricated of folded conductive organza to make robust sewable attachments Fig. 7 The Sp4rk13 skirt [photo credit: Mikey Siegel] Fig. 9 Schematic of the Sp4rkl3 skirt LED medallion The Sp4rk13 skirt is also a durable artifact. It was exhibited at the Boston Museum of Science for 12 weeks between November 2008 and February 2009. It was mounted on a mannequin that had been modified to include a motorized waist to shake the skirt. The stepper motor was programmed to rock the waist sharply 3 times from front to back in 2 s Fig. 11 Charging event in one panel Fig. 10 Sp4rkl3 lighting up when shaken by the motorized mannequin Fig. 12 The Sp4rkl3 skirt on exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science [photo credit: Emily Roose, Boston Museum of Science]