IDeATe

Outcome

Problem Statement:

When your mother sends you a jar of food, she tends to keep wondering whether you received the package at ate it or just put it away and totally forget about it. A way to let her know you are feasting on her dish can make your mother feel happy and increase the bond with her even though you may live far away. It can also encourage moms to send more food to your place!

Goal:

In order to help your mother know when you are actually indulging in her food and encourage her to send you more, our group designed a system that connects the food container with a photo frame. When you open the food container sent from your mom, your mom the picture of you will light up. When your mom picks up the picture frame to look at the photo, a bell will jingle that lets you know that your mom is also thinking of you.

Process:

1) Brainstorm the pain points.

2) Brainstorm the product/solution.

3) Woodshop for the photo frame with incorporated LEDs and Rangefinder which is connected with the photon.

4) Code the first system which connects with photo frame with subscribe and publish.

5) Select container for the prototype and fabricate housing for hall effect sensor and vibration motor.

6) Code the second system which connects with the container with subscribe and publish on a separate channel.

7) Test the whole system for proper integration.

8) Document the process and outcomes.

Outcome:

Our final project Mother's Love system will notify the sender that the container has been opened by lighting up the led on the photo frame.

The Scenario: Charlotte has a close relationship with her mom. Her mom loves to send homemade pasta sauce to her, so even if Charlotte is far away in NYC, she still can taste the homemade sauce, which can reduce her feeling of homesickness. On Friday, she receives the package from her mom. She knows that the pasta sauce is inside the box. She opens it in harmony and her mom Emily sees the LED lights turn on from the photo album. Charlotte’s mom feels very happy about her daughter receiving the sauce by looking at her contempt reaction, so she decides to send her more next week. She looks at the picks up the picture frame longingly, and the container on Charlotte's table jingle. Charlotte can feel her mom's smiling.

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int ledPin = D0; // set up led
int rangefinder = A0; // set up rangefinder

void setup() {
  pinMode( ledPin , OUTPUT ); // set led as output
  pinMode(rangefinder, INPUT); // set rangefinder as input

//subsribe to the box open event from other Particle
  Particle.subscribe("diot2016/bcj/open", lightled);
  Serial.begin(9600); //serial to check range finder read
}
void loop()
{
  //read range finder
  int hand = analogRead(rangefinder);

  // serial print range finder read
  Serial.println(hand);

  // if the range finder sees something in front of the picture frame...
  if (hand >= 50)
  {
    Particle.publish( "diot2016/bcj/wave");{ //publish event to channel
    delay(1000);
  }

  }
}

void lightled(const char *event, const char *data) //set function for lighting LED
{
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); //turn led on
  delay(1000); //delay 1 second
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // turn led off
}

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int hallsensor = D0; //set up hall sensor
int vib = D1; //set up vibration motor

void setup()
{
 pinMode( hallsensor , INPUT ); // set hall sensor as input
 pinMode(vib, OUTPUT); // set vibration motor as output

 Particle.subscribe(  "diot2016/bcj/wave" , vibration ); //subsribe to event from other particle
 Serial.begin(9600); // serial to test
}
void loop()
{
 checkOpen(); //run function to check whether the box is open or not
}

void vibration(const char *event, const char *data) //function of vibration
{
 digitalWrite(vib, HIGH); //turn motor on
 delay(1000); //delay
 digitalWrite(vib, LOW); //turn motor off
}

int checkOpen() //check box function
{
 int hand = digitalRead(hallsensor); //read hall sensor
 if (hand == 0) //if hall sensor reads "open"
 {
   Particle.publish("diot2016/bcj/open"); // publish event
   delay(1000); // delay 1 second
 };
}

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Reflection:

The project can be commonly used for building bonds with parents and children who live separately in different cities. We believe the product can also expand to be used by couples and friends.

If we have more time to design this product, we will also figure out a way to let mom send signals to their child to notify them that they are sending more food and expecting the container to be sent back.

As a working process, we work great with each other. Each of us brings specific specialties to the team. Jon is in charge of the coding, Ben is in charge of the prototyping, and Charleen is in charge of the documentation. In the next project, we will rotate jobs and let each other have a taste of the coding process.