MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT: LAMP FOR A CLOSET!

• link to Instructable website: https://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Hanger-1/

I often thought that I needed a separate light just for a closet. There were some situations when I did not want to turn on my room light to grab something out of closet.. especially not to wake up my roommate and pets. So I thought about creating a moveable light on a hanger.

I planned to make the circuit directly onto one of my shirts, however, it did not quite work out because the shirt was too stretchy. Instead, I used pillow case fabric to make a mini shirt that can be hung on a hanger.

I created a circuit using Flora, LED lights, and a button that controls turning on/off the lights. When Flora is connected to a battery, a button is activated to control the lights.

 Materials used:

• Pillow cover
• LED lights * yellow
• Flora (arduino)
• A button
• Conductive thread
• Conductive fabric
• Copper thread

Future iteration:

• make more than one state for lights. (ex: blinking, lights partially on, etc)
• make both side of the shirt work (add more lights on the other side of the shirt)

 

 

Here is the link to the Instructable created for my mid term project! https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-LED-Lamp

Social Scarfmeter

This project comes aims to quantify and visualize the mood, more specifically how eager I am to interact with other people at that precise moment. Ranging from 0 to 4, embedded LEDs show the value on the front of the person’s torso. The user has a stretchy knitted knob that can be used to change the value of the social value just by pulling.

User testing

Demo

 

On the final iteration of the project, I used a scarf, some black canvas that provided some structure to the soft circuit, copper thread, conductive tape, conductive yarn, AT-tiny85, socket, resistor, Lipo Battery and battery socket.

This project had 3 past iterations that didn’t work as expected. This circuit was very tricky. All version below had some kind of shortcircuit even though they follow the same circuitry than the final version. During the process, I improved no only my technique but also my decision making towards circuits.

Here the first prototype that work using ATtiny and breadboard.

Find here the code used. There is a threshold for the sensor that I defined first using Arduino UNO and taking advantage of the serial port. After that, I’ve adjusted blindly any time I needed.

ATtiny exercise capacitive + switch 

 

My midterm was a star constellation embroidery that lights up when you touch it and connect the thread together. I’ve always loved constellations and stars at night because I love how it lights up the dark. For this project, I used thread, conductive thread, water paint to paint the white fabric, LEDs, Attiny to make the LED light up, solder and hot glue to make my circuit connection stronger.

I sew my circuit of the light with conductive thread on another fabric and then embroidered the star embroidery to make sure that the two LEDs I’m lighting up are in the right places. Then I sewed it all together. And the end product is when you touch the two threads at the bottom, one LED will light up and when you connect the thread on top, the top LED will light up.

You can find the instructable here 

This is the Attiny circuit I made which is the basis of the code and circuit I used in my midterm.

Continue reading →

ATtiny Circuit

Videos

Button

Switch

Fluffy BMO

FOR THE INSTRUCTABLE LINK:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Felted-BMO/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How I made it?

I start to use a foam as a base for the body. Then, embed the Matrix 8 by 8 in the front of it.

I work on a soft button which hides beside the body of the Robot

 

 

TRACK 1

Design a lamp using the techniques, tools, and materials we have been learning over the course. Lamp and presentation are due OCT. 18. You will have seven minutes total to present. I suggest 5 minutes for presentation and 2 for feedback. You do not need to have a slide deck unless you want to. You should plan to demo. Instructable due Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Constraints:
1) MUST use a switch or sensor. RE: You must have a way of controlling the circuit.
2) Must have at least two states (e.g. on/off, fading fast/slow, red/blue, etc) or more.
3) You do not have to use Arduino.
4) You cannot use jumper wires *unless* it is to connect your circuit traces to the Arduino. In this case, you should consider how to integrate your Arduino into the design. Depending on your time and financial constraints, you may want to explore other types of Arduinos that better fit your design, such as a Lilypad, Flora, Gemma, Arduino Mini, etc.
5) The midterm is an individual project.

NOTE: Please do not use a breadboard for the same reasons as the Arduino constraint above. Again, the goal of this project is to evaluate your comprehension of the materials, techniques, and processes. Only using wires and a breadboard or Arduino will not help me understand that you have mastered what we have been doing in the semester.

I will be evaluating you along the following categories:
Process
– Paper prototyping interaction and structure
– Grasp of assembly and how to integrate electronics with materials
– Material is appropriate for the project

Concept + Design
– Clear design goal
– Desired interaction accomplished (What should the user be doing or feeling? What action do you want them to perform?)
– Intuitive interface (or convoluted depending on the design goal)
– Articulated audience – who is this for?

TRACK 2

You may propose another project for the midterm, but it MUST be approved by me first. This can take the form of in-depth material research, etc.

ALL TRACKS

Documentation
– Create an Instructable documenting your project. Due October 23.

DUE OCTOBER 11
Post initial ideas, sketches, and any prototypes to the blog.