- What do you want your project to do?
- My personal project this semester will be a continuation of my personal project from electrical engineering. It is a device that measures a gymnast's acceleration using a compass sensor/accelerometer. In the future, this data can be used to measure the force of impact of a landing, which then could be used to improve a gymnast's technique or diagnose injuries. Also, if a gymnast placed one of these devices on each ankle, looking at the data and comparing the two calculated forces, she could see whether one side of her body was taking more of impact than the other and make adjustments accordingly. Although the bluetooth is working, it requires that the serial monitor be opened before logging data. This would be inconvenient because a laptop would always be needed to set it up. Maxine ran into the same problem, so I will follow the changes she made in order to eliminate the need to open the serial monitor.
- What is the maximum that you want to spend?
- My original project was relatively inexpensive because it didn't require that much hardware. The only additional cost that continuing the project would entail would be extra hardware to make a second prototype.
- What are the dimensions of your project?
- What materials do you use?
- Compression sock (or other wearable fabric)
- Accelerometer/compass sensor
- Board with bluetooth capability (i.e. Flora, Bluefruit)
- Bluefruit LE Connect App
- Lithium battery
- Will your project be inside or outside?
- It will be used inside, but if a gymnast is using it while practicing, it needs to be durable and able to withstand hits and crashes. Another design consideration is making it safe for the gymnast. Ideally, the gymnast shouldn't even know that it's there, so in the end I would like it to be light weight and inconspicuous.
- Will your project be portable?
- Yes, it will get power from a battery and send data to iPhone app.
- Will your project connect to the Internet?
- Will your project use Bluetooth?
- Yes, the Adafruit Feather nRF52 Bluefruit is a Bluetooth Low Energy board. Using the Bluefruit LE Connect App, data collected from the accelerometer can be sent wirelessly to the user's iPhone.
- What are your project inputs?
- Acceleration measured by the accelerometer
- What are your project outputs?
- The data that is displayed on the app from the accelerometer- has to go through Feather Bluefruit
- How does your project different from the project that inspired you?
- Are the tools you need for the project found in the FabLab?
- Yes, most of the work will be done on the Arduino software. No other tools will be needed.