User:Steven1108/ENES-100/project 1/CDIO

Problem Statement
Find the best way to connect and insulate EL wire. This is the implement stage of the CDIO.

Materials

 * 5-10 ft strands of blue EL wire
 * 1 XS black morphsuit
 * 1 M black morphsuit
 * 1 LG Matte Black Motorcycle helmet with 1 tinted visor and 1 clear visor
 * 1 Lilipad
 * 1 Sparkfun arduino circuit board
 * Enough Circuit board EL wire attachments

The implementation system design:
My only idea right now is to have the wires exposed and spread apart. That will not work though. They are connected by solder.

Experiment prototypes and tests need for design
Starting with the physical nature of the wire. There is an outer housing, an inner housing, and then the wire.

Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving
It took problem solving to figure out how to keep the wires together, without having them touch.

Aesthetics and human factors
The wires need to be insulated both for aesthetic purposes as well as safety. When touching the exposed wires when the are connected to power you notice a slight electric current.

Designing the Implementation Process
After successfully soldering the two wires together, the next step is to insulate the wires.


 * Two pieces of tape surrounded by tape was bulky and not pleasing to the eye.
 * With one piece of tape surrounded by tape, the wires will eventually touch due to sliding. When surrounded by heat shrink, the tape actually melted when the heat shrink was heated.
 * Surrounding one wire with heat shrink kept the wires separated no matter what they went through.
 * Covering everything with a bigger piece of heat shrink kept things neat and tight.

Designing the Implementation Process
After successfully finding the best methods of connecting and insulating the EL wire, the next step was to connect all the EL wire to the adapters allowing it to connect to the circuit board.


 * It is important to make sure you do not use too much solder or it will be too heavy to stay on the thin EL wire.
 * Another problem with too much solder is that it restricts the thin heat shrink to fit around the wire.
 * It is important to make the connection using as little solder as possible, the heat shrink will hold everything together tightly.

Test and analysis procedures (hardware vs. software, acceptance vs. qualification)
I tested the EL wire by plugging it in, if it glowed it worked.

Next Steps

 * Connect all the EL wire to the connectors compatible with the arduino circuit board.
 * Connect wired to the suit and helmet