User:Mkennedy7536/SnakeHat/Howard Community College/fall2012/p1-502-aks

Write problem/project Goal
Our goal is to create a hat utilizing a rubber snake and LED lights to convey the emotion of a person through color

My First Task
To find ways to attach the board and snake to the hat. I also must look for different rubber snakes and LED's online for us to obtain and use.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
I probably could have done a little more thorough search for LED's and Rubber Snakes. I found some fairly decent sites and also came up with some non-online alternatives. I also was able to come up with some ways for attaching the snake to the hat, which was in my plan to complete. I also was able to develop ideas for attaching the board, which was also in my plan. I also developed a secondary problem of weatherproofing, but this will have to be validated to this problem.

Week1 Narrative
The work that I did looking for snakes and LED's online led to these results.

Rubber Snakes:

http://www.fakerubbersnakes.com/groupcoiledsnakes.htm

http://www.zymetrical.com/fake-rubber-snakes-c-300_214.html

http://www.thebigzoo.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=51

I found the team can also look at local places like Target, Walmart, and Party City if we don't want to buy these online.

LED's

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1074

http://www.elexp.com/opt_rgbc.htm

http://www.theledlight.com/rgbdiodes.html

It is also possible to use use single colored LEDs and use more of them as opposed to multicolored.

My thoughts are that the arduino board would have to be exterior for comfort's sake, and it would have to be covered in some way so that it is weatherproof. I believe we could use either a Styrofoam casing or a plastic one that would cover up the board and attach the case adhesives to keep the board attached to the hat. The snake can also be attached with adhesives which could be used for simplicities sake. The snake can also be sewn on, which would probably be the most secure in terms of movement, weather, and other factors that could jar it loose. I didn't look to much into the type of hat because I don't know exactly which one we are using. I figured a baseball cap or a type of beanie would be the best choices.

My Second Task
I am planning on getting basic designs and sketches of how the board, snake and LED's will be mounted. I will develop how we will attach everything and how it will fit together.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
I accomplished everything I set out to. I designed sketches and worked out some of the mounting issues. I also was able to find some glow and the dark snakes online. I wasn't able to go out and look in stores however.

Week2 Narrative
I was able to get some sketches of what the design for the hat could look like. I concluded that given the choice, a hat with a flat lid would be easier to work with than a hat with a round lid. This is because it would be easier to mount the board or the case in a way where it won't interfere with comfort or function of the hat, and it would be more secure than if it were positioned at the sides or on top. We would then have the wires inside the snake attached to the LED's so that they wouldn't be exposed to outside elements and the rubber in the snake will keep the electricity contained. The snake would have to mounted in a removable fashion for maintenance and tweaking purposes. I unfortunately don't have a hat with a flat lid, so hopefully someone else will have one to bring in and use.

~ Aabdelaz6573 the flat lid hats are a great idea to keep the arduino better balanced

My Third task
I will be working with Ahmed to work on the output part of the snake hat. We will figure out how to get each color of LED to light up to a corresponding input value. I will also try to get one or two more sketches of what our design could look like and how we will implement each part.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
I was able to get some more sketches drawn, but in terms of effectiveness and simplicity, the original design is still the best one. I wasn't able to meet with Ahmed due to my work schedule over the weekend and on Friday and Monday.

Week3 Narrative
I made another two brief sketches on how to simplify the hat design, like using less LED's and how to mount the Arduino in other ways since we still don't have a flat brim hat to use. I also looked up some more possibilities for using pulse, but didn't find too much more than what we already had. This was honestly not that productive A week and group communication needs to improve. I also looked into some possible ways to emit pulses to the arduino, but I need to confirm with Ahmed before I determine if any of them are useful.

My Fourth task
I have two new circuits to work with, so I will try to get these circuits built.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
I did not have access to the chips and sensors that I needed for the circuits, so I was unable to actually make them over the weekend. Instead, I looked over everything that we had to complete for our presentation and planned out what needed to get done so that we can put the finishing touches on the project so it can be passed on successfully.

Week4 Narrative
I spent time on Friday trying to find the parts that I would need to make the circuits. However, I didn't have access to the chips that I needed and I couldn't order them in time to get the circuit made and tested. I then looked to build some of the circuits for two amplifiers, but I could not find the resistor values on the designs that we were using. I decided to concentrate on trying to wrap up the project so that we could make a good presentation and pass the project on successfully. I looked at what we needed to do and came up with a decision matrices for all the major decisions that we had made over the course of the project. I also looked at the summery of our project and made list of key points for the summary.

Complete Team Page
SnakeHat/Howard Community College/fall2012/p1-502-aks