Final Project Process¶
On this page, you will find the process of creating my final project.
Principles and Practices¶
The idea for my final project is ever-changing. I am very indecisive, but I finally settled for something that speaks to my personality: a dress that lights up when in motion. I will be using neopixels, conductive wires, and motion sensors.
Computer Aided Design¶
Using 2D vector softwares, specifically Adobe Illustrator and Corell Draw, I will be drawing the sewing patterns for the dress. It will have three different layers: a layer that pockets the electronic components, the body layer (opaque), and a sheer layer that allows light to penetrate through.
Computer Controlled Cutting¶
The patterns designed on the computer softwares will be cut using the laser cutter to ensure accuracy and better results - also im really bad at cutting.
Electronics Design + Input/Output Devices¶
Using softwares such as Eagle, I will be designing the microcontroller for the dress. The main components are the neopixels and motion sensor.
My idea is to make one central board where the microcontroller lies, and then solder the conductive thread to the FTDI on that board to connect the sensor and neopixels.
The motion sensor requires four pins: VCC, GND, and the I2C connection pins; therefore, an ATtiny45 would be sufficient especially since its small in size making it suitable for a wearable.
I drew the schematic on Eagle using the following components:
| Component |
|---|
| ATtiny45 |
| Resistor |
| ISP Header 2x3 |
| Unpolarized Cap |
| LEDFAB1206 |
| 20Mhz Resonator |
| FTDI SMD |
Then I routed the wires and tried to make the board as small as possible.
The input device I’m going to be using is a motion sensor, specifically the FLORA Accelerometer/Compass Sensor.
My output devices, the light, the neopixels will be the Flora RGB Smart NeoPixel version 2.
Electronics Production¶
Embedded Programming¶
https://learn.adafruit.com/flora-accelerometer
Molding and Casting¶
In the molding and casting week of FabAcademy, I decided to make little gemstones to sew onto the dress for texture, and to be able to hide spots that I would rather not show because of all the electronics happening.