Embedded Files
Pitch
Imagine a fluffy cloud shaped night-light that automatically turns on when your room gets dark. It softly illuminates your room with a warm light while playing soothing vibrational music to help you fall peacefully asleep. When the morning sunrise rolls through the window, the light will fade away as well as the music. With the cloud night light, its design is intended to improve and adapt to sleep cycles by providing a relaxing atmosphere.
We are the Moonlight Melody, and we intend to revolutionize your bedtime routine with our intuitive cloud-shaped night light. No more tossing and turning in the dark or struggling to calm your mind before sleep.
Our product caters to individuals of all ages who struggle with falling asleep such as kids who have a fear of the dark, adults who have difficulty sleeping due to stress or insomnia, and anyone who desires a calming environment before bed. Millions of people experience trouble sleeping at night and we intend to target this widespread need through catering to our diverse range of customers who are seeking comfort and tranquility during the night.
Our project addresses the issue of sleep difficulties by activating a soft amber glow when the room lacks natural light, as scientific research confirms that these warm colors are calming and contribute to restful sleep by boosting melatonin production. Additionally, our night light plays low vibrational noise that can promote deeper, more restful sleep, which can lead to improved overall health and well-being.
Design & Reference
We sought guidance from Rachel, a professional staff member at Fimbel, for assistance with the laser-cutting sketch process. She informed us that there were free vector files available online as silhouettes. We utilized Adobe Illustrator to adjust the vector file and modify the layers to suit the laser cutter machine.
We referenced a picture from Google to ensure that our project closely resembled the design.
Original Process
Annette assisted in crafting the design layout for the copper tape to accommodate our external LED lights. She strategically positioned them to both suit the cloud silhouette and ensure ample light permeation throughout the entire design.
Lights lit up in action with the alligator clips on the copper tape! he alligator clip on the negative side (-) of the external LED is connected to the GND pin on the Circuit Playground Board, while the positive side (+) of the LEDs is positioned on the copper tape with the alligator clip linked to the A1 pin.
We received assistance from professional staff Rachel in operating the laser cutter machine to precisely cut 1/8 inch clear acrylic. We utilized this to create the cloud vector design that we had previously crafted in Adobe Illustrator!
IMG_2668.MOVWatch a live-action video of laser cutter 'Appa,' as it precisely cuts the cloud silhouette down to 7 inches!
Running into Trouble (Failure Encounter Reflection)
During the construction phase of our external LED lights for the cloud project, we encountered a challenge. It became apparent that the A1 pin didn't provide sufficient power to illuminate all the external LEDs effectively, as different LEDs required varying voltages. Rachel informed us that red LEDs required lower voltages compared to the white LEDs we intended to use for the entire cloud. When we connected the white LED's positive alligator pin to the 3.3V pin on our Circuit Playground Board, all lights illuminated brightly. However, using the A1 pin with light detection resulted in only one red light illuminating dimly, while the other external LED pins remained faint. Despite that the code was functional without issues during compilation and upload via Arduino, this frustrated us. As a compromise, we decided to integrate music output when the board detects low light, with the red light serving as an additional indicator for low light conditions.
Revised Process
Decided to put copper tape directly on the clear acrylic silhouette to make the assembly process easier. Copper tape was done the same as original design.
To prevent the copper tape from being visible through the fluff, another silhouette was created using blank paper and placed on top. Holes were carefully cut out where the LEDs were positioned.
Fluff was directly taped onto the blank paper. Yellow alligator clip is clipped the bottom of the cloud silhouette to GND on Circuit Playground Board (CPB) and the white alligator clip is clipped to the top of the cloud silhouette to 3.3V on the (CPB) to provide enough power to show how the lights look
Final Product Demo
IMG_2788.MOVReflection
As I reflect on my learning journey at large, I think that having multiple perspectives can drastically impact problem-solving because it can provide many options that one was never able to consider before reaching out to different people. When tackling a problem from various angles, we not only uncover different solutions but also gain a deeper understanding of the issue. Each perspective offers unique experiences, knowledge, and skills, which enrich our collective ideas. Engaging with multiple perspectives encourages empathy and open-mindedness. By actively listening to others, we appreciate alternative approaches and recognize the validity of differing opinions.
Looking back at the times when I had to consider what courses I could take in and out of my intended major, I think that cognitive flexibility had a profound effect on my course choices. This is because in my freshman and sophomore year, I was determined to first do all of my graduation requirements but I wanted to ensure I was flexible enough to explore all the opportunities provided for me. For example, I knew that I’d need to take a social science class but instead of doing what I was already familiar with, I decided to challenge myself and take World Regional Geography because it was a class I’d never taken before. Furthermore, I believed that it would also assist me in my Environmental Studies major by helping me explore different interdisciplinaries and understand different perspectives when it comes to viewing the environment. As for Engineering Robotic Systems, I had taken that class because I was simply interested in it and the professor teaching the course–unaware that it went into a CS major requirement. I had zero knowledge of building robots, using pins, circuits, and breadboards when I went into the class and I understood that it would be coding intensive. Taking that course gave me a lot of anxiety because of how inexperienced I was compared to my peers, but because of my cognitive flexibility in considering computer science classes that require hands-on activities and teamwork, I was able to grow professionally and be more confident.
There was a time during my Data Structures course when I had no clue how to approach a bug that was occurring with my assignment. However, I was determined to figure it out and I decided to suffer in silence for a while before I reached out. I was more determined to finish the assignment than fully understand what was going on with my code because I had other looming assignments. I spent hours moving code around, changing and deleting lines, hoping that my issue would magically fix itself. However, this led me to dig myself into a deeper pit than before I started debugging. Two days before the assignment was due, I went to teaching assistant hours and realized within 30 minutes that the bug was syntax related and the original code I had was very close to the solution. It took me a long time to realize this, but I realized that if I cannot fix a bug within 30 minutes I should reach out for help from TAs, my professor, or the lab instructor. This is because I would waste more precious time in stressing out and making my code worse than it originally was.
Thinking about a time when I was committed to a plan, I am reflecting on the group project where my teammate and I were working on a cloud night light. We intended to make the cloud light up and play music when the circuit playground board detected little to no light. However, we ran into an issue where the external LED lights would not light up brightly at all because of the lack of power. We tried many different ideas such as coding the light sensor threshold to be higher but it did not impact the light brightness at all. We reached out to the professional staff at Fimbel and we were informed that the better option would be to use external LED lights that require less voltages such as red LED lights. However, even using red LED lights did not work as the majority of the lights besides one lit up dimly (1 out of 4) when the light sensor of the board sensed low light. Due to the deadline coming up, we pivoted to a new plan for the cloud to respond with a melody as well as a red light to indicate that low to no light was detected. This was very effective because my teammate and I were quick on our feet and we were able to produce a project with an even better outcome than anticipated. If I were to tell my former self something, I’d tell her that she is capable of anything but to not get too overwhelmed with the amount of work she has on herself.
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