17. Applications and implications¶
This week I worked on planning my final project materials, sourcing, cost, necessary processes and evaluation.
Let’s start with recapping my final project topic:
What will it do?¶
My final project will be a device that mimics walking/jogging to fool Google Fit / Apple Health to gain small advantage in Pokemon GO. Pokemon GO has option to record exercises from Google Fit and Apple Health, and accept walking/jogging as walked in-game distance. I want to have my final project appearance to mimic incubator item from Pokemon GO, which would be quite fitting as incubator is the main game mechanic that benefits from recorded distance.
Who’s done what beforehand?¶
I’ve had this idea for about two years now, and one instructor also mentioned “this could be accepted as Fab Academy final project” before I was even considering to participate Fab Academy.
I haven’t found any comparable DIY designs related to my final project. Only DIY idea that claims to do hatch eggs is almost five years old, and probably does not work at all since it relies on GPS, not Fit/Health app. The Adventure Sync mechanic from Fit/Health app didn’t exist back then.
I have found few commercial products targeted to mimic distance to transfer it to Pokemon GO, but those have quite bare-bones look, no Pokemon-specific decorations etc. Commercial products cost 10 € and up and most of them don’t even have branding. Soler seems to be the only one who tries to distinguish themselves from crowd. Pokesteps has really generic look that can be found on Amazon or Aliexpress.
I was a bit surprised to find more about these on Youtube. Especially the high viewcounts surprised me as I’m not aware of this fooling trick having much popularity in Finland. I’d like to highlight few videos that explain basics about fooling Fit/Health app and introduce a japanese phone swing. Video by FLW Videos, and video by PokeGirl7. There’s also a comparison video of various phone swings.
What will I design?¶
- Mechanism to move phone
- Mechanic to hold phone
- Electronics and embedded code to control movement (more functionality can be added in future spirals)
- User interface (start/stop button is the minimum, potentiometer for speed control?)
- Casing:
- Bottom part where all functionality will be
- Transparent cylindrical sides with no other function than looks, maybe to house few wires for future spiral
- Top, which probably has no functionality for now, maybe leds on future spiral, so option to have few wires routed to top is good
What materials and components will be used?¶
Vacuum-formed polystyrene for sides. Bottom and top surfaces will be made with 3D printer. Inner structure of bottom and top maybe with laser-cutter for lot faster prototyping out of 3 mm mdf.
Where will materials and components come from?¶
Mostly FabLab so far. Transparent polystyrene needs to sourced elsewhere.
How much will they cost?¶
Needs to be calculated later.
Start with unit prices (sheet of mdf, spool of 3D printer filament etc.)
What parts and systems will be made?¶
- Bottom part
- inner structure made out of mdf
- outer surface 3D printed, ABS or PLA
- movement mechanism, 3D printed, ABS or PLA
- Phone holder
- likely 3D printed, possibly some contact pads made out of casted silicone
- Sides
- divided into 3 sections
- vacuum-formed polystyrene or acrylic
- at least two sectors are transparent
- between sectors there is some supporting structure
- vacuum-formed sides are attached to 3D printed frames
- phone insertion via magnetic door(s) or whole sides+top construction must be easy to lift up
- Top part
- 3D printed surface
- inner structure 3D printed or laser-cut of mdf
- Electronics & UI
- located in bottom part
- usb powered, hopefully less than 2 A, so most wall chargers & power banks would work
- can work with single pcb and two supply voltages at first
- add second pcb to convert motor voltage from usb voltage later
- has at least a button and led(s) placed like in-game images
What processes will be used?¶
I’m quite sure these topics will be covered:
- Computer-aided design
- Computer-controlled cutting
- Electronics manufacturing
- Electronics design
- 3D printing
- Embedded programming
- Mechanical design and machine design
- Input devices
- Output devices
- Vacuum forming
Following topics are possibly covered:
- Molding and casting
What questions need to be answered?¶
- How phone will be moved?
- Stepper motor, dc motor, something else?
- How mechanic will be done?
- So far my main thought has been “piston style” to convert motor shaft movement to up-down movement
- Windscreen-wiper style?
- Pendulum?
- How phone will be hold?
- Get inspired by commercial phone mounts for cars etc., so horizontal clamp? Is one enough or should there be two or three?
- Needs also vertical clamp
- Corner clamp is also possible
How will it be evaluated?¶
First of all, functionality: Does it wave phone in any way? If so, does Google Fit record that movement as walking/jogging? Furthermore, is that movement data recognized in Pokemon GO?
Innovation, is this project idea original enough?
Covered processes, does this cover wide enough range of Fab Academy topics?
Documentation, is this replicable with available documentation?