CONCEPT OF PROTOTYPE
Our concept revolves around the idea of designing a splint for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or people with tendonitis. The final iteration of this project is going to be composed of an accelerometer, utilizing 9 Degrees of Freedom to measure the angle of the user's wrist to signal them that they were in an improper wrist position.For my prototype, I tried a different approach than my colleagues (who both opted to use the accelerometer), and tried to use a motion sensor to experiment with for my prototype splint, that would light up the 3 LED NeoPixels, detecting the movement of the user.
AESTHETICS
Aesthetic-wise, I have been practicing my sewing a lot, and I personally think that this time around my sewing was done to the most efficient it could have been. The Neopixels are close-knitted, and the circuit is completed without the usage of an excessive amount of wire.The sleeve itself is put around the hand, through the thumb hole, and you don't have to worry about it falling apart, due to how well I stitched it together. The motion sensor is located at towards the wrist, to sense the movement of the wrist.
INTERACTION + CIRCUITRY
Essentially, the circuit was fairly simple. The Flora was attached closer to below the wrist, with the motion sensor attached closer to the wrist. The LED Neopixels were attached right below the flora, in a 3-way pattern. How the prototype was supposed to function, was that the lights would be dim, and then when motion was detected the LEDs would light up brightly with a slight delay. However, that did not work, since I was not giving my Motion sensor enough power, and as such, the LEDs were always lit up.
IMPROVEMENTS
If I were to improve upon this project, I would obviously try using a different sensor, as I realized afterwards that the Motion sensor does not work in the way I wanted to for a Wrist Splint. It was too wonky, and does not detect that kind of motion, so I regret that decision. Another improvement I could make, would be to make my splint a bit more appealing terms of color, and make it sturdier like an actual splint rather than just use cloth.
OBSTACLES
I think one of the biggest obstacles for me this time around, was trying to work out the aesthetics and properly fix my sewing skills. I realized how much design knowledge goes into sewing, and as such, I need to properly map out where I want specific components and how certain parts are going to be connected to each other. This way, the end result is clean cut, and appealing to the eyes, as was the case with this prototype. Another problem I had was getting the motion sensor working properly. Although it was working in the sense that it was constantly detecting everything, the problem lied in the fact that it was detecting something all the time, even when it shouldn't have, which resulted in the LEDs always lighting up.
MATERIALS
- Flora
- NeoPixels (3)
- Conductive Wire
- Sleeve Fabric
- PIR Motion Sensor (1)
CODE
Code was retrieved and modified from here:
http://oneoclockjump.co.uk/2014/03/outdoor-motion-activated-led-light/#.WBtwyZMrKRs
