Outcome

Move up Delete Move down

Problem Statement:

The goal of this project is to strengthen couples rituals beyond boundaries. We focused on a particular ritual of holding hands while walking through cherry blossom fields. Our motivation for making this project is to support our classmates that are in long distance relationships and don't have the opportunity to continue to practice meaningful rituals that they have with their partners.

Move up Delete Move down

Conceptual Design:

Each partner can place his or her object in her room . Our intimacy objects consists of a teddy bear and glass dome that contains cherry blossom petals. When a partner thinks of the other person, he or she squeezes the hand of their teddy bear which sends a signal to their partner's glass dome. A simulated current of air will make the petal move inside the glass dome. The simulated movement of the petals will bring back the couples memory of walking and holding hands through cherry blossom's fields. If the partner is next to the object, he or she will be able to see it and reply to the signal, indicating that as a couple they are not only thinking of each other but also keeping a tradition that the couple has alive.

Move up Delete Move down

Storyboard:

Move up Delete Move down

Storyboard

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Process:

Our team was really interested in exploring how we could incorporate movement and touch to our intimacy object. We brainstormed different rituals that we thought couples or families cared about and were difficult to replicate because of long distances. We really enjoyed the story that one of our team members shared around cherry blossom festivals.

Once we aligned on a scenario, we explored how we could create movement inside the glass dome and how we could incorporate touch as the trigger for our intimacy object. We tested different servos and fans to determine the best option for our object. Once the code, the input (squeeze sensor) and output (blower) were incorporated, we developed the base to host the glass dome.

Challenges:

As we developed our prototype, we encountered the following challenges:

Learning to work with a transistor. It was challenging to understand how to properly create the circuit for the transistor.
Code: In order to have the blower blow for a couple of seconds we learned that we needed to create a loop using the while function vs an if statement
the importance of grounding: the 12 V rails needed to be grounded to the particle in order for the blower to work properly
Blower wind force was not displacing the petals correctly. We had to create several adjustments to alter the angles of the created current so that the petals would continually rotate and not stagnate in the edges of the dome.

Move up Delete Move down

Overview

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Outcome:

We were able to develop a working prototype of our intimacy object which blows petals when we squeeze the teddy bear. If we were to continue to develop this concept further, we would like to change the color of the petals and incorporate a fan instead of a blower.

Move up Delete Move down

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Bill of Materials:

For one intimacy object

Inside Components:

Particle Photon
Micro USB Cable
Breadboard
Jumper Wires
Blower
1 TIP120 Transitor
LED
220 Ohm Resistor
10K Ohm Resistor
1K Ohm Resistor
Diode
Flex sensor
12V power supply

Outer Shell:

Foam Board (for base)
Glass Dome
Cloth Mesh
Faux Rose petals
Teddy Bears

Move up Delete Move down

Fritzing Final Circuit Diagram:

Move up Delete Move down

Connectedintimacy bb

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

// Define a pin we'll place an LED on
int ledPin = D2;

// Pin locations on the Particle
int buttonPin = D0;
int flexPin = A0;
int fanPin = D1;

int flexReading = 0;
int flexValue = 0;

long lastPublishedAt = 0; //not sure what this is for?
// from this device
int publishAfter = 10000;

unsigned long duration;
unsigned long timeLength = 10000; // run blower for 10 seconds.

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(buttonPin , INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(flexPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(fanPin, OUTPUT);

  Particle.variable("flex", &flexReading, INT);
  Particle.variable("brightness", &flexValue, INT);

  Particle.subscribe(  "diot/2018/connected/bearinmind" , handleSharedEvent );
}

void loop()
{
    // find out if the button is pushed
    // or not by reading from it.
    int buttonState = digitalRead( buttonPin );
    flexReading = analogRead(flexPin);
    flexValue = map(flexReading, 3246, 3680, 0, 255);

    if( abs(flexValue) >= 175 )
    {
      int loopTime = millis();
      publishMyEvent();
      while(millis() <= loopTime + timeLength){
        digitalWrite( ledPin, HIGH);
        digitalWrite( fanPin, HIGH);
      }
    }else{
     digitalWrite( ledPin, LOW);
     digitalWrite( fanPin, LOW);
    }
}
void publishMyEvent()
{
  // check that it's been 10 secondds since our last publish
  if( lastPublishedAt + publishAfter < millis() )
  {
      String eventName = "diot/2018/connected/bearinmind" + System.deviceID();
      // then we share it out
      Particle.publish( eventName, "Thinking of you..." );
      lastPublishedAt = millis();
  }

}

void handleSharedEvent(const char *event, const char *data)
{
    // Now we're getting ALL events published using "diot/2018/connected/bearinmind"
    // This includes events from this device.
    // So we need to ignore any events that we sent.

    // Let's check the event name
    String eventName = String( event ); // convert to a string object
    // This gives us access to a bunch of built in methods
    // Like indexOf()
    // Locates a character or String within another String.
    // By default, searches from the beginning of the String,
    // but can also start from a given index,
    // allowing for the locating of all instances of the character or String.
    // It Returns: The index of val within the String, or -1 if not found.

    // We can use this to check if our event name contains the
    // id of this device

    String deviceID = System.deviceID();

    if( eventName.indexOf( deviceID ) != -1 )
    {
      // if we get anything other than -1
      // the event came from this device.
      // so stop doing stuff
      return;
    }

    // otherwise do your stuff to respond to
    // the paired device here
    int loopTime = millis();
    duration = loopTime - millis();
    while(millis() <= loopTime + timeLength){
      digitalWrite( ledPin, HIGH);
      digitalWrite( fanPin, HIGH);
    }
}

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Show Advanced Options

Move up Delete Move down

Reflection & Lessons Learned:

As a team we enjoyed experimenting with the blower and the flex sensor. It provided is with a new challenge to learn to work with new inputs and outputs. We also learned to leverage different functions within our code (e.g., while) as well as work with transistors and diodes. Placing an LED within our board was also a successful way to understand if our code was working. We also used a motor at the beginning to test the output of our object. Finally as a team we leveraged our strengths which enabled us to work effectively and produce a prototype that we were proud of.

Move up Delete Move down

References:

1. template for pairing devices: https://diot2018.slack.com/files/U8J0Q602U/F968KM3A9/template_code_for_paired_devices.txt

2. tutorial for flex sensor: https://learn.adafruit.com/force-sensitive-resistor-fsr

3. Circuit tutorial for transistor: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/TransistorMotorControl

You can upload files of up to 20MB using this form.

Add Rich Text Add Code Block Add Embeddable Content