This report closely follows the process of building this interactive wearable technology. It has been compiled in such a way to show the daily consideration of all aspects of the construction and development this piece. As the days proceed it can be seen that certain problematic troubleshooting is required. As issues arise throughout the process of implementing design decisions, programmatic considerations also reveal necessities of structural elements. These processes are laid bare in this report.
It is a designers personal journal and it has aided greatly, the ability to critically consider design choices.
Following is a pin allocation and layout diagram that shows how the hardware components are physically interfaced with the Arduino via a shield holding breakout pins, it shows provisions for the correct voltages and the names of the pins to be read.
Hardware Components
The following hardware components will be in use on the vest, some changing an analog signal into a digital format and one just a digital switch.
Accelerometer
Accelerometers are electro-mechanical devices that sense either static or dynamic forces of acceleration, which is the rate of change of the velocity of an object. Static forces include gravity, while dynamic forces can include vibrations and movement. They measure in meters per second squared (m/s2) or in G-forces (g). (Sparkfun, & Toni_K. 2017, para.1,2)
Flex Sensor
A flex sensor is a variable resistor whose resistance increases as the body of the component bends
Potentiometers
A three terminal variable resistor with a rotating contact on a carbon track that makes up an adjustable voltage divider. The term potentiometer is derived from an old established method of obtaining a precise division of a potential (voltage). The term variable resistor therefore refers to the use of one fixed and one moving connection in the component. (Sinclair, 2001, pp. 65-66)
Toggle Switch
This is simply a basis I/O toggle in the form of a heavy duty SPST switch
Arduino Uno
This is an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple i/o board that does not require drivers, its development environment implements the processing/wiring language. It can be used to develop stand alone interactive objects or can be connected to software on your computer including: Flash, Processing, MaxMSP. (spark fun, 2017)
XBee Explorer
Translates data between the computer XBee, the LED blink rates help debug the Xbee.
It includes a voltage regulator and a reset button, the explorer can be used to set the communication protocols between XBees.
XBee Shield
Proto-typing base shield specifically designed for Xbee with breakout pins
Zigbee XBees Series Two
Designed to let the user create complex mesh networks based on the ZB mesh firmware, these modules all allow reliable communication at a great distance with any device that holds a serial port.
Software
The following software will be used in conjunction with the hardware to manipulate the data made available by the analogue movements.
XCTU
A multi-platform application that enables interaction with RF modules via a graphical interface.
MaxMSP
A visual programming platform for music and multimedia.
Arduino Processing
A platform used to write sketches that can be loaded to the Arduino memory and utilized to control the processor.
Journal
Continue reading “Technical Progress Report”