Bloom Poem

Flower Bloom

Process

Background Research

E-commerce and monthly subscription based services have been on the rise this decade. People have given their credit card information to these services and they get charged annually, quarterly or even monthly. Many transactions go through without the user even knowing about it. A simple device that notifies the user for every bank transaction made could help them be mindful of their spending patterns.

Concept Generation & Refinement

We started with a tip jar for coffee shops and a simple way to say 'thank you'. A blooming flower with an LED smiley felt like the right design.

However, after a couple of prototypes, that was not enough. Taking inspiration from various floral designs, we decided to incorporate arrangements like vines. Our final design; A handcrafted wooden stand inspired by the neck of a swan, with yellow flowers arranged in a vine like presentation.

A Particle Photon, break beam sensors and a few LEDs helped us create this device.

Prototyping

We first worked on the basic circuit for the IR-beam sensor with a simple LED indicator light that sensed if something was dropped into the Tip jar.

We then added the Servo motor as an additional output along with the simple LED indicator. The servo motor was used to actuate the ‘blooming of the flower’ in response to a Tip given - either dropped into the Jar or Swiped by card on the Register.

Once the servo motor was suitably calibrated, the ornamental LEDs on the flowers were added.

We then worked on getting the same response to a tip made by swiping a card to the register. Assuming the Cash Register to be in the form of a Google Sheet, we worked on connecting the Google sheet input to the system. This was done via IFTTT RSS feed.

Prototyping process

Chenyu Wang and Swati Rajendran

blooming flower prototype for IoT version 1

blooming flower prototype for IoT version 1

A video posted by Chenyu (@chenyu.wanghao) on Jan 30, 2016 at 9:54pm PST

chenyu.wanghao - https://www.instagram.com/p/BBMUHPFgLhh/?taken-by=chenyu.wanghao

Bill Of Materials

Sr. No	Component	Quantity.
1	Particle Photon	1
2	IR beam sensor	1 pair
3	LED big (ornamental)	3
4	LED small (indicator)	1
5	Glass Jar (Tip jar)	1
6	Jumper wires	(variable)
7.	Color Paper	(variable)
8.	Wooden Arch	2
10.	Masking tape	(variable)

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <math.h>

int SENSORPIN = A4;
int LEDPIN = D0;
int sensorState = 0, lastState=0;
int servoPin = A5;
int servoPos = 180;
Servo myServo;
void setup() {
  Particle.function("rssData", rssData);
  //  Servo
  myServo.attach( A5 );
  //Register our Particle to control the servo
  Particle.function("servo", servoControl);
  // Initialize the LED pin as an output
  pinMode(LEDPIN, OUTPUT);
  // Initialize the sensor pin as an input
  pinMode(SENSORPIN, INPUT);
  digitalWrite(SENSORPIN, HIGH); // turn on the pullup
  Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
  // Read the state of the pushbutton value:
  sensorState = digitalRead(SENSORPIN);
  // Sensor Beam is Broken
  if (sensorState == LOW) {
    // turn LED on
    lightUp();
  }
  else {
    // turn LED off
    digitalWrite(LEDPIN, LOW);
  }
  if (sensorState && !lastState) {
    Serial.println("Unbroken");
  }
  if (!sensorState && lastState) {
    Serial.println("Broken");
  }
  lastState = sensorState;
}

int lightUp () {
  digitalWrite(LEDPIN, HIGH);
  servoControl("10");
  delay(3000);
  servoControl("180");
  return 0;
}

int rssData(String command)
{
  int foo = command.toInt();
  lightUp();
  return 1;
}

int servoControl(String command)
{
  // Convert
  int newPos = command.toInt();
  // Make sure it is in the right range and set the position
  servoPos = constrain( newPos, 0 , 360);
  // Set the servo
  myServo.write( servoPos );
  return 1;
}

Click to Expand

Final Design

Flower Bloom

CY - https://vimeo.com/154132293

Flow Bloom

CY - https://vimeo.com/154132386

Reflection

Learned:

1. Enhance the skills in operating Particle.

2. Practiced in design circuit.

3. Practiced 3D prototyping skills.

4. Work in integrated team with business, engineering, and design background.

Next Step:

We would like to conduct user research to understand our potential customers' needs & wants and further refine our product.

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Found In

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49-713 Designing for the Internet of Things

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This course charts the emergence of the now "connected world" to explore the possibilities for future products and connected spaces.

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Physical Computing

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About

The flower blooms and lights up your living room when people pay tips into the tip jar or each time you make a transaction with your credit card. During the rest of the day, it's a beautiful home decoration like a flower vase :-)