Process and/or Research

First, I did some research on pressure sensors that could be used for the gloves. Although I could purchase a pressure sensor, I thought it would be a good experiment to try to make a homemade pressure sensor. I found instructions for a pressure mat (http://www.instructables.com/id/Velostat-Homemade-Pressure-Sensor-Mat/) that uses the material Velostat which changes its resistance when pressure is applied. This pressure mat is relatively cheap and easy to make so consequently it seems like it would be easy to play around with and create prototypes of. I would have to test to see how much pressure would have to be applied to activate a LED. Additionally, I would have to see if the pressure is involuntarily triggered if someone wearing the gloves is holding something or if their hands are in a fist. Potentially I would have to add a switch to make sure the battery isn’t wasted unnecessarily. Furthermore, the battery would have to be smaller than the ones used in class considering the size of a glove (especially women’s and children’s glove sizes), so this Li-Po battery (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13813) seems to be a good substitution. The battery would probably have to be on the back on the hand where it could rest flat. The LEDs would probably be located near the battery as well since putting any circuitry on the fingers might tug on the wires. Lastly, I would have to play around with the type of material with the gloves - I would probably create the initial prototype using an old pair of cotton gloves but may branch out into different materials in future tests.