W1: Start of Researching

Due to unexpected illness, thorough preliminary researching has been delayed.

Topics That Need Researching

• Motors and material compatibility

• Wireless connectivity

  • Wireless power modulation

• Batteries with 1.5+ hour life

Early Testing - addressing previous problems

When working on Return to Center, the original design was to have a motor on the top and bottom of the wrist - the top motor being located inside the case. Putting the motor in the case resulted in vibration that dispersed through the material too much, rendering it ineffective (see Week 5 Capstone Progress). In that instance, I moved that motor out of the case and into the wristband. As this new device has handheld components, that’s not an option anymore.

I never did come up with a way of solidly attaching the motor to the case itself at the time, so that’s where I’ve started. I threw together a test model where the motor can snap firmly into place

One of the tabs broke when snapping in the motor, so that will need to be strengthened if I stick with this direction.

I still had a breadboard version of the Return to Center circuit built, so I threw this motor into that circuit for testing. The vibration could definitely be felt better through this case than it did with the RtC case, but it still didn’t feel strong enough. However, I think the sound of the motor is throwing off my perception. It’s in a hollow plastic case with a loose clip next to it and no sound dampening - ergo, it sounds very angry. The aggressiveness of the sound doesn’t match the sensation in the hand, which I think is making me think that it’s less effective than it really is.

Update: testing it again while wearing noise-cancelling headphones yielded a much more promising result. It was the sound throwing me off.

Verdict: This motor is probably fine, which is great because I have lots of them, but sound deadening will have to be a priority.