Project 2: Runway

Headbeat Visualizer T-Shirt

Created by Danny Nguyen and Lanxi Xing

EXPERIENCE:

For this project, we're thinking to make a glowing shirt that synchronizes with the user's heart beat. Initially we're thinking to have a switch that switches from different glowing modes. However due to the limited pin numbers on arduino and the way we wire the LED lights, we eventually turn the functionality off. Gladly, we have one of our glowing pattern works - which is our project.

MATERIALS:

• Piezo Fiml Sensor
• 15 LED's
• Conductive thread
• Tape (an easy way to wrap exposed wires)
• Twisted pair wires
• 200k resistors
• Arduino micro

HOW IT WORKS:

The Arduino receives it's data by attaching a Piezo film vibration sensor to the users wrist using velcro. The sensor is attached to the analog pin of the arduino so when the application runs, the vibration on the user's wrist will act as the "pulse". Every time a pulse data is received, the arduino will light up the LED's that are sewed to the shirt.

Every three (some are four) LED's are linked together using conductive threads and merged as one "pin" on arduino (so 3 or 4 leds will light at a same time).

The hardest part of the project will be swing on all the LED's to the shirt and make them into circuits. This takes up our majority time for development. Additionally, the variability of the vibration sensor is also very hard to control. Piezo vibration sensors are highly sensitive. This makes a tiny move on the hand also a "pulse". We had to convert the data from the Piezo sensor and find the threshold among all the data that are been collected.

Overall, this wearables project was a fun experience, as I got to not only do some programming but also a lot more constructing and wiring work than I have ver done in my college career. Hopefully, I will have time to update and improve this project, but as of now, this is more of a prototype or proof of concept nonetheless.

Here is a working result of our heartbeat visualizer T-shirt.