{"id":452,"date":"2016-02-01T07:51:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T07:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zoebachman.net\/itp\/?p=452"},"modified":"2016-02-08T03:09:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T03:09:04","slug":"wearables-assignment-1-soft-circuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zoebachman.net\/itp\/?p=452","title":{"rendered":"Wearables, Week 1: Soft Circuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wanted to try my hand a soft switch that involved some kind of social interaction, allowing another person to complete the circuit.<\/p>\n

Thought about this interest in embroidery, kind of painting with thread…thought of imagery that could look nice, and landed on the idea of a patch that you could wear that a friend would complete. Thinking about important relationships in our lives and how certain people impact us emotionally, and the phrase “you’ve touched my heart” came to mind. I imagined a circuit with LEDs that when you close the switch using a conductive-capacitive glove, the LEDs turn on.<\/p>\n

Decided in terms of constraints to use felt in stead of embroidery. Laid out components and realized that I’d been spoiled with using neopixels. Luckily, just purchased Kate Hartman’s Make: Wearables book so looked back at basic electronics.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5331\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I laid out my components, putting the battery pack on the back. I wish I had a plastic one, but I didn’t have any around and apparently tinkersphere is closed on sundays. I’ve sewn a battery pack before so I tried my hand at it.<\/p>\n

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The tricky part that I’m not sure about is connecting the switch to the rest of the circuit. I’m going with interrupting the ground line. Funny how doing a complicated project makes it seem hard to do something simple.<\/p>\n

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testing the LEDs<\/p><\/div>\n

I didn’t put a resistor on, even though I should have (theoretically on all four). Once again, what seems simple in concept at ITP is actually quite complicated.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5334\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I goofed a bit when it came to sewing the ground line, accidentally fully connecting the circuit. So I took out some of my stitching and made sure to isolate the left half of the inner heart. I checked the connections with a multimeter and all was good!<\/p>\n

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my goof up with the ground line<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s a video of the finished piece,<\/p>\n

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