Week 16: Applications and Implications
Tasks for this Week
Answer the following questions:
- What will it do?
- Who has done what beforehand?
- What will you design?
- What materials and components will be used?
- Where will they come from?
- How much will they cost?
- What parts and systems will be made?
- What processes will be used?
- What questions need to be answered?
- How will it be evaluated?
What will it do?
The Problem
Approximately 30% of Australians rent.
Most are not allowed to have pets or have difficulty getting approval from landlords to have a pet.
This means many renters miss out on the mental and physical health benefits of owning and caring for a pet.
Final Project Idea
To create an artificial pet that can provide comfort and motivation to its owner.
The pet will need to be able to:
- Provide opportunities for its owner to care for it
- Encourage its owner to exercise
- Know when it is being pat
- Be huggable
Who has done what beforehand?
An example of bringing huggability and electronics together is Scream Body by Kelly Dobson https://web.media.mit.edu/~monster/screambody/
Fluf Bot by a Shinobu Ishimura Fab Academy Student https://fabacademy.org/2021/labs/kannai/students/shinobu-ishimura/projects/final-project/
Qoobo - commercial product out now https://qoobo.info/index-en/
Paro Therapeutic Robot - commercial product out now http://www.parorobots.com/
Furby - Inspiration from my childhood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furby
Tamagotchi - Inspiration from my childhood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi
What will you design?
I will design: - The soft toy pattern - 3D printed cases for electronics - PCBs - 3D printed nose - A mold for the UV resin eyes to be cast
What materials and components will be used? Where will they come from? How much will they cost?
| Item | Where to Get | Cost Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Faux fur fabric and matching sewing thread | Spotlight | $20/m and thread $5/spool |
| PP Cotton Stuffing | Amazon | $89.99 (repurpose dog bed, will have extra left over) |
| 3D printing filament | Fab Lab | Estimate less than $15 |
| PCB copper milling board | Fab Lab | $114.95 (pack of 25) |
| Silicone for mold making | Amazon | $44.99 (1kg amount) |
| Wax mold making | Fab Lab | $45.39 |
| UV Resin | Amazon | $49.99(kit with UV light and pigments) |
| Silicone Electronics wire | Core Electronics | $10.90 |
| Stainless Steel conductive thread | Core Electronics | $12.80 |
| Conductive knit fabric patch | Core Electronics | $19.55 |
| Xiao RP2040 (x2) | Core Electronics | $10.00 each |
| Flex Sensor | Core Electronics | $34.30 |
| Capacitive touch sensor | Core Electronics | $5.20 |
| Speaker and amplifier | Core Electronics | $8.80 and $4.65 |
| Transceiver (x2) | Core Electronics | $21.70 each |
| Addressable LEDs (x2) | Core Electronics | $9.15 (pack of 10) |
| OLED | Core Electronics | $13.60 |
| Accelerometer | Core Electronics | $7.20 |
| Buttons (x3) | Fab Lab | $0.76 each |
| Resistors | Fab Lab | $8.30 (variety pack of 500) |
| Buzzer | Core Electronics | $4.49 |
| Real Time Clock | Core Electronics | $16.65 |
| SD card and adapter | Core Electronics | $19.30 and $4.65 |
| Lipo battery and charger | Core Electronics | $15.35 battery $5.10 charger |
| Powerbank (replace in future with batteries) | Officeworks | $75 |
Note: Amounts in AUD
What parts and systems will be made?
- Soft toy will be designed, laser cut fabric and sewn
- 3D printed cases for electronics
- PCBs
- 3D printed nose
- UV Resin cast eyes
What processes will be used?
- 3D design using Fusion 350
- 2D design using Illustrator
- 3D printing
- Laser cutting and engraving fabric
- PCB Milling
- Wax milling
- Silicone and UV resin casting
- Soldering
- Programming
What questions need to be answered?
How will hugs be measured?
Will the 3D printed nose be able to be boop-able?
Will there be enough time to get both the toy and console/remote done? Focus should be on the toy?
How will it be evaluated?
Key criteria:
- Is it cute?
- Is it huggable?
- Does it encourage me to look after it?