As the pandemic has left us working from home we find the fatigue of sitting on our desks behind our screens all day. For my prototype I have designed a device a to help ease the pressure on ones elbows while they work. I used Expanded Polyethylene also known as EPE Foam because of its flexibility, compressible and shockaborbing properties as the the main part of the prototype. Sandwiched inside the EPE foam is a conductive (aluminum foil) and resistive (velostat) materials to create a pressure sensor that lights up the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express .
Parts & Materials
Parts
- Adafruit Circuit Playground Express
- USB charger
- Copper Tape
- 10K ohm Resistor
- Alligator to alligator clips
Materials
- Copper tape
- Aluminum Foil
- Expanded Polyethylene
- Velostat
- Double sided tape
Instructions
Step 01 – Cut out EPE foam(2 pieces), foil(2 pieces) and velostat(1 pieces) in half in desired shape in this case circles as well as some strips of copper tape
Step 02 – Assemble the pieces together in a sandwich using double sided tape in this order EPE foam, foil and copper tape, velostat, foil and copper tape and cover with EPE foam.
Step 03– Attach the aluminum foil onto one end of the alligator clips and then the other end to the Circuit Playground Express and test the circuit.
Code Hosted on GitHub
https://github.com/kananamwenda/Ease-The-Pressure
Circuit Diagram
References
How to Make an E-Textile Analog Sensor. (2020, May 30). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA37mGEnPes