November 24, 2007
Reading for November 27th, are now posted. Enjoy!
October 2, 2007
To upload your thoughtless acts, create a new assignment page like any other lab. You'll see "Thoughtless Acts" listed as one of the assignment options.
May 24, 2008
This site has been archived and is no longer editable. Stay tuned for the next version, coming in the fall!
For the lab 6 assignment, I explored the option of putting a DC motor (as a vibrator) in the pillow to create a gentler while a more persuasive alarm. Time can be set by input on the Arduino IDE and an alarm will be set. The alarm itself starts with a gentle vibration that increases in intensity if the user does not switch it off. As the controls for switching off the alarm are at the computer, it makes sure that the user gets up from the bed to switch it off! Smart sleepyheads may however sleep on the bed, pushing the pillow aside.
Components Used: Arduino Diecemila Microcontroller, DC Motor, Cork to create vibrating motion, resistors of varying resistance.
Picture: Attached below.
Code: Attached below.
The original idea was to come up with a Rube Golbergish sequence of sorts using the components in the labkit, which is halfway there. It'll be updated after it's done!
Vibrating Pillow Alarm
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| PillowAlarm.txt | 1.74 KB |
Comments
Comments from TAs
Nice idea -- I think that having a vibrating pillow would be a good way to wake up. (I personally use my cell phone as an alarm, and I find the vibrate feature to be less annoying than the audible alarm.) It would be interesting to try out and try to figure out the right level of vibration to wake you up without being annoying.There are a number of cool tangible alarms that move around your room to make sure you're awake. One launches a helicopter to a random location in your room, and the other has wheels and rolls off of your desk when it goes off...Please include the list of components that you used in your project.
Re: Comments from TAs
Done!