INTRO-TO-WEARABLES

Introduction to wearables, sensors, and narrative

3/11 BASICS OF CIRCUITS

OBJECTIVE: Teach the basics of circuitry through wearable electronics. Participants will start by creating their own parallel circuits and transition to programming with neopixels. PRESENTATION SLIDES

1. Basic circuitry

• LED/coin cell orientation

• Create parallel switch circuit- LED, nylon fabric tape

• One LED light up switch

• Where have you seen a parallel circuit before? (christmas lights, etc)
• Diagram on how energy flows
• What is ground?
  • ground is the reference point in an electrical circuit from which voltages are measured, a common return path for electric current
  • What is VBATT, 3.3V = current flow places
  • Rest are digital pins

2. Programming Neopixels

• What are neopixels?
  • Needs data but how do we send it data?
• Circuit diagram
  • Flora- microcontroller- runs a piece of code. Only knows to do that.
    • Reprogram (by uploading new code) it but only does the one thing
    • Flora diagram
    • How is data flowing?
• Input
  • Are pins where you can connect devices that supply information to the microcontroller. - sensors, switches
    • Digital input - refers to a binary state. On or off, high or low.
    • Analog input- refers to pins that can accommodate a range of values. You can accomplish a more varied effect.
• Output
  • Are pins where information is delivered from the microcontroller in the form of varying voltage.- LEDs, motors, and speakers.

3. Sewing your circuit

• How do you sew?
  • Look out for direction
  • Sewing snaps
  • Positive and Negative connections don’t have breaks HOWEVER data connections do.
  • Upload simple strand test
  • Arduino programming structure

4. HOMEWORK

• Come in with an animation
  • Blink animation ⇒ snake animation
    • INTRO, BLINK, CHASER
  • Feeling animation:
    • High
    • Crushed
    • Magnificent

5. OTHER REFERENCES

3/13 SENSING THE BODY

1. Introduction to Arduino

• Go over Animation homework- Questions? Hurdles? Discoveries?

Introduction to Sensors

2. Construct circuit

• Accelerometer (2)
  • What are you measuring?
  • What can you sense with that?
• Stretch sensor (2)
  • What is this stretch sensor made out of?
  • What is it measuring?
• Mic
  • What is it measuring?
  • How are you mapping unto the neopixels?
• Capacitive touch
  • What is it measuring?
  • What is resistance?

3. Present back your circuit

BREAK

4. Mini-challenge

• Create a 2 min max. performance
• No words
• Has to involve more than one body
• Prompt- “I have to tell you a secret”

5. Designing your circuit

• Where does your sensor live on the body?
• Examples of how to migrate your circuit
• What is your sensor potentially highlighting?
  • What kind of gestures does your sensor invite?
  • What kind of meaning does the data have?

References

• Make: Wearable Electronics by Kate Hartman (Read Online via PULibrary)
• Arduino Language Reference
• Some tips on sewing with conductive thread