Heart Bike Jacket

I bike almost everyday in New York City. Because of work and school, I am often on the road late at night so road safety is a big concern. But even with LED headlights and taillights (as required by law), drivers seldom seem to pay much attention to those who travel on two wheels.

The Heart Bike Jacket is designed to bring a level of human-ness to my bike gear. By mimicking the shape of a real human heart, I hope to remind drivers behind me that I’m not just a nuisance on the road; I’m also a living human being, subject to the hazards of the road and much less protected than the driver.

Prototyping
I set out by illustrating vector shapes of the human heart and the various components of this complex organ based on 3D computer renders:

Heart diagram

I then lasercut layers of frosted and clear acrylic, building in tiny holes for alignment.

Heart Jacket Process 01 - Laser

Heart Jacket Process 02 - Laser

Initially, I was unaware of the effects of epoxy on the EL panel, so I accidentally destroyed my first sample.

Heart Jacket Process 03 - Pin

Heart Jacket Process 04 - Glue

Heart Jacket Process 05 - Destroy

When I re-attempted, I scaled-up the pieces (in order to maximize the area of the EL panel), added additional holes along the edges in order to secure them together with thread, and used tape to attach the panel to the acrylic instead. The precut holes also allowed the light to be sewn directly onto the jacket.

Heart Jacket Process 06 - Tape

Heart Jacket Process 07 - Sew

Heart Jacket Process 08 - Attach

Here is a video I created to showcase the Heart Bike Jacket:

Light-Up Hand Warmer (for cycling)

The light-up hand warmer for cycling is my first project using EL wires. I took particular interest in how this light technology could be applied to an activity that I do almost everyday. I was not at all familiar with EL wires, so I chose a medium — a woven hand warmer — that would allow me to easily and quickly get more comfortable with it.

Continue reading “Light-Up Hand Warmer (for cycling)”

Alternative gyoza tutorial #1

http://wangsfactory.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-gyoza.html

I like this tutorial mainly because he was very concise on the forming of the gyozas. I took a very long-winded, start-from-the-basics approach but I think it was unnecessary. He smartly used 4-quandrant photos to quickly show the process of forming, which I think makes the process seem easier while keeping it sufficiently explanatory for the readers to understand.

KidWind @ Maker Faire

This project is particularly inspiring to me because it reminds me of the immense fun I had building things with moveable parts out of Legos and K’NEX (which wasn’t always easy). Of course, at the time, I was too young to understand (or want to explore) the science behind it. I also admire their tremendous efforts in putting together a comprehensive curriculum to accompany the wind turbine kits.