Finishing the First Prototype

In the last two weeks, we’ve really been rushing to get our prototype done so that we can take a good picture of it for our paper. We finished the circuit for the prototype about two weeks ago. I also sewed the EL wire panel. We first tried to do a continuous blue loop on the outside but it didn’t look good when it was sewed so we did something else which can be seen in the picture.

Last week, Miranda and I worked together to sew everything and actually put everything together. Miranda mostly worked with the sewing machine while I did anything else that could be done. This is what the prototype looks like:

The EL wire should light up but we found that the connections that we made ourselves weren’t as strong as we hoped. They seem to be breaking when they are bent to much so we’re going to try to redo the EL wire with copper tape. Hopefully, they’ll be more durable.

This is what it looks like under the EL wire panel:

We attached the EL wire to the top using hook and eye clasps and snap buttons. With all the other things, we used Velcro so that it could be adjustable to anyone using it. For now, we’re also using velcro to attach the bend sensor.

In the next few weeks, our advisor, Swamy, is getting the IRB paperwork done so that we can start on the experiment. We’ll also be building a second prototype as a back-up to the first. I’ll be redoing the circuit and resoldering the EL wire once we get material. We’ll also have code up for the bend sensor to the EL panel which I’ll need to tweak.

It’s been really busy the last two weeks for finishing this prototype and we still have a bit more to go.

-Alice