An integrated web-based platform for fabric weave design, visualization and loom-oriented data distribution
Jianliang Chen, Caiyun Shi, Xing WeiPurpose
The purpose of this study is to address workflow fragmentation in conventional fabric weave design, where weave drafting, fabric preview, file export and loom-side data transfer are often handled through separate tools or manual operations. This paper presents an integrated, lightweight, web-based platform for interactive woven fabric design, Canvas-based fabric visualization and LAN-based loom data distribution, aiming to improve cross-platform accessibility, design-data continuity and sampling preparation efficiency in digital weaving environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The platform was implemented using a browser-based front end based on the HTML5 Canvas API and native JavaScript, together with a lightweight Node.js/Express data distribution service for local-area-network deployment. The system supports professional weave-symbol drawing, left/right mouse-button configuration, grid-based linkage among the fabric weave diagram, drafting plan and lifting plan, adjustable yarn arrangement, material-related rendering parameters and DY-format export. Instead of full three-dimensional physically based rendering, the visualization module adopts a lightweight Canvas-based rendering strategy that combines weave-matrix interpretation, yarn colour arrangement, procedural texture and simplified light-shadow effects. Experimental evaluation included drawing response-time measurement, expert-based visual consistency assessment of simulated fabrics against real samples and stability testing of LAN-based file distribution for the SGA598 full-automatic rapier sampling loom.
Findings
The drawing module achieved average response times below 30 ms for weave diagrams up to 500 × 500 cells, indicating that the platform can support real-time interactive editing under the tested conditions. In the expert visual consistency evaluation, the chemical-fibre fabric simulation achieved an overall mean score of 4.22/5, while the cotton fabric simulation achieved an overall mean score of 3.96/5. The results suggest acceptable visual consistency, although light-shadow expression received lower scores than texture reproduction, indicating that lighting simulation remains a limitation of the current Canvas-based model. The LAN-based data distribution test achieved 100% successful upload and download/import operations in the controlled SGA598 sampling-loom environment, with an average latency of less than 250 ms, demonstrating baseline stability under the tested local-network scenario and reducing reliance on removable storage devices in this context.
Originality/value
This study presents a lightweight browser-based implementation that integrates fabric weave drafting, grid-based drafting/lifting-plan linkage, Canvas-based fabric visualization, DY-format export and LAN-based loom-file distribution into a unified workflow. Its originality lies not in replacing existing textile CAD/CAM or simulation systems, but in connecting the practical stages of weave editing, fabric preview, loom-readable file generation and local data distribution for sampling-loom preparation. The platform provides a workflow-oriented approach for improving design-to-loom data continuity in the tested SGA598 sampling-loom scenario, while future extension to other loom systems will require additional file-format adapters and communication interfaces.