Project Stages

• Final Project Ideation Week 0

  After screening my various ideas, I decided to pursue a final project that relates to fashion and health. In Week 0, I learned to use fashion flat sketches and mind maps to communicate my final project idea about a posture assistive dress.
  
  

  

• Design Skills acquired Week 2

  In this week, I have acquired the necessary knowledge for 2D and 3D design, which greatly helped me with the 2D and 3D design, especially how to work with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, SOLIDWORKS, and CLO3D.
• Laser Cutting Skills acquired Week 3

  In this week, I have learned how to work with the laser cutting and vinyl cutting machines in our lab. The knowledge I acquired in this week has helped me a lot when laser cutting the fabrics for my final project. I also envisioned myself using a vinyl cutter to produce the flex PCB for my project, but I decided to use the laser cutting machine to do so after the fiber laser training in Week 11.
• PCB Production Skills acquired Week 4

  In Week 4, I have learned how to work with the Roland SRM-20 PCB milling machine at the lab. At first, I was puzzled why we had to make a PCB before knowing much about the components, but I was very appreciative of this set up in the later weeks because the knowledge acquired in this machine actually helped me a lot in the PCB design process in Week 6.
• 3D Printing Skills acquired Week 5

  In this week, I learned how to work with the different 3D printers in our lab. While I have decided to apply 3D printing techniques in my project during this week, the actual design and manufacturing process were accomplished later.
• PCB Design Skills acquired Week 6

  In this week, I have learned basic PCB design knowledge with KiCad, which offered essential support to me in designing the circuits for my final project.
• Embedded Programming Skills acquired Week 8

  In this week, I have learned how to interpret the datasheet of different chips, especially the functions of each pin. I have specifically examined the datasheet of ATtiny412 for my project. Although I later decided that I would use the a new processor (ESP32-WROOM for the bluetooth feature), the knowledge gained in this week helped my a lot with my process later.
• Input Devices Set Up: Accelerometer Week 11

  In this week, I have learned (1) how to use sensors to collect information from the environment and (2) how to use the Accelerometer as an input device for my final project, and (3) how to use the fiber laser to produce flexible PCB and non-flexible PCB (on FR1 boards).
  

  

• Output Devices Set Up: Vibration Motor Weeks 13

  In this week, through trial and error, I have learned what components are required for a vibration motor circuit driver, and how to use the MOSFET as a voltage regulator.
  

  

• Laser Cutting Textile Skills acquired Weeks 13

  During Week 13, I learned how to use the Trotect Speedy Flexx 400 machine to laser cut textiles. I was able to define the settings that I would use for the linen fabric for my final project.
  

  

• Fashion Design, Laser Cutting Textile and Sewing Week 16

  In Week 2 and Week 16, I had the opportunity to investigate processes that are related to the "hardware" part of my final project, specifically, I computer designed the dress pattern and check if the pattern fit the model, then I laser cut the pattern pieces, and sewn a prototype dress.
  

  

• I/O Devices V2.0 Weeks 14-18

  During Week 14, I was able to debug the issues I enountered with the I/O devices using the ATtiny1614 boards. I was able to set up the I2C communication on the devices, but I also realized that the upload speed was not ideal for my final project. As a result, I decided to take a challenge to develop a board that utilized ESP32-WROOM-32 as the processor. Another nice thing for this processor is the WiFi/Bluetooth feature.
  

  

• 3D Printing Brooch Week 19

  In this exercise, I designed a small flower brooch in SOLIDWORKS, I then 3D printed and painted the brooch to decorate the bodice of the dress.
  

  

• Bluetooth Application Weeks 19

  After screening different tools, I chose to use Blynk and Arduino IDE to develop the bluetooth application for my system.
  

  

• Final Prototype and Presentation Week 20

  In this post, you will find a brief summary of the processes and the testing of my project. You will also find my answers related to the project development process as well as the original design files.