Concept 1
Problem:
Babies cry a lot during diaper change. I’m unsure why, but it happens very often as we need to keep them clean. Nonetheless, its unpleasant and anxiety inducing for the caregiver/parent (especially a new parent), as the baby can get extremely loud.
Solution:
A diaper light. This is a sound light box that changes color based on how loud the baby cries. It’s meant to look visually appealing as away to calm the anxiety of the caregiver/parent during diaper change.
Concept 2
Problem: Need motivation to keep working out while at gym, but you don’t have a trainer.
Solution: Arduino yellow, green and red interactive dumbbell. This is meant to help you keep going during your weight lifting exercises. The aim is to get to the color green.
Nice brainstorm, Ta-Shea!
For the diaper light, I think I understand your idea as a volume-reactive neopixel animation, is that correct? Here’s a good microphone to use: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1063 and you can connect it to an analog input on your arduino as if it were a potentiometer.
If you are interested in making a screen-like thing, here are some links to resources that could help:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1487
white plastic used to diffuse: https://www.instructables.com/Bluetooth-Speaker-W-Music-Reactive-LED-Matrix/
special black plastic is used in this one: https://learn.adafruit.com/32×32-square-pixel-display
3D printing: https://www.instructables.com/3D-Printed-Game-of-Life-a-Mesmerizing-LED-Light-Sh/
but conceptually I want to know what kinds of animations you think will be soothing? Can you provide any references for how you want the light to change with the sound? This would help direct the development of your code.
For the dumbell idea, you could use a tilt ball switch (https://www.adafruit.com/product/173) or IMU (Intertial Measurement Unit, a combo of accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope such as https://www.adafruit.com/product/2472) to measure the dumbell orientation/movement, and have the light change after each rep. Maybe it’s a thing that attaches to existing dumbells, so you can use it with the set at the gym? Or part of one of those multi sets that allows you to adjust the weight without taking up a lot of space. What material were you thinking for this? Could be 3D printing, or something else entirely, let me know what you’re thinking.
Hi Ta-shea! Both ideas look so interesting and I especially love the dumbbell one. Pull it out at the gym and you’re be the brightest star. Are you going to achieve it using a combination of sensors? I highly suggest printing out weight information using Ana’s magical sticker machine and put them on the two ends to make it look more real.