Leave me Beanie
A wearable that lets an introvert’s context be wary of their personal space.
A physical prototype as part of the Physical Computation and Prototyping curriculum
HCDE, Fall quarter, 2023
2 week sprint
The purpose of this design is to let someone know that the user would like to be left alone.
The design is a wearable (beanie), an Arduino based prototype that senses the distance between the user and an “intruder” and lets them know that the user would like to not be disturbed. If the intruder passes the set distance threshold, they are greeted with a message, their proximity and beeps to stay away.
I see uses of this when the user would like to not be disturbed when they're deep in their work.
The wearable consists of an Arduino Circuit Playground Express, an LCD and a distance sensor. A slide switch activates the distance sensor, which will measure how far the “intruder” is from the user.
The system is programmed to send out notifications with the distance value on the LCD based on the intruder’s proximity.
If the intruder is more than 150 cms away from the sensor, the LCD will display “Hi, I’m busy” and the LEDs will glow with white.
In the range of 150 cms to 75 cms from the system, the LCD will display “Too close” and the LEDs will glow orange.
Under 75cms from the system, the LCD will display “Keep out”, the LEDs will glow red, and the speaker beeps at varying frequencies.
External prototype view
Interior connection details
"Hi, I'm busy"
"Too close"
"Keep out!"
Prototype at work
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Identify the appropriate microcontroller to use, in this case, Arduino Circuit Playground Express.
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Identify the appropriate range finder, in this case, MaxBotix Rangefinder LV-EZ1.
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Make a mock circuit build using an LCD, the microcontroller and rangefinder using jumper wires.
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Identify and write the code required to run the hardware.
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Load the software onto the microcontroller and test the system.
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Once the test results seemed to work close to desired, move the circuit build into the beanie.
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Cut holes in the beanie to fit the components and hem the edges.
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Use conductive thread to stitch up the connections.
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Run into issues of system not working properly.
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Discuss to identify the problem- short circuiting and loose connections.
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Change course- change connections from conductive thread to jumper wires.
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Figuring out the appropriate code for the appropriate range finder.
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Watching the LCD display the messages.
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The system works after changing course from conductive thread to jumper wires after figuring out the root of the problem- short circuiting and loose connections.
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Fabric of the beanie was stretchy and challenging to make accurately sized cuts.
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The LCD backpack and Rangefinder came with soldered pins which made it impossible to wind conductive thread around.
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Figuring out the appropriate rangefinder for the design- Shifted from SharpIR to Maxbotix Rangefinder.
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Figuring out the appropriate code for the specific model of rangefinder.
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Lack of practice with needle-pointing.
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Desoldering the pins on the LCD backpack to accommodate the conductive thread.
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Conductive thread stitched in close proximity would short circuit the system. Decided to use the jumper wires as an alternative.
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Needle-pointing for the first time after a very long time.
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Watching the system work after using the fail safe - replacing the conductive thread with jumper wires.
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Stitching using conductive thread and failing.
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Trying to desolder components and failing.
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System heating up.
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A part of my laptop screen started forming a brown spot.
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The LCD has trailing letters from a previous message/alert whenever a new detection has been made.
I used the Pulse Width example code from this article.
Next up: Safety Buddy