The Edge Jan 2018

Participants will create a wearable electronic badge. The badge has a programmable 8×8 LED Matrix display with a re-chargable battery, a laser-cut frame, with a weather resistant hand-made vacuum formed shell.

Wearables are smart electronic devices (electronic device with micro-controllers) that can be worn on the body as implants or accessories ¹⁾

Image by Pebble Technology CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Wearable technology should be:

• robust
• reliable
• simple to operate
• small enough to wear

This workshop is designed to be an accessible introduction to electronics assembly.

we have chosen a simple design with:

• large components
• no soldering
• robust enough to be taken apart
• can be vacuum formed over and over

• high level overview of circuit and components
• case assembly and wiring between components
• vacuum Forming
• coding in the Arduino IDE

• computer with working USB 2.0 ports
• a working internet connection (or pre-downloaded files)

• craft knife
• scissors
• small Phillips screw driver
• small pliers
• side cutters

• hot glue gun
• hot air gun

• the Edge Vacuum former

A microcontroller (or MCU for microcontroller unit) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit.

• one or more CPUs (processor cores)
• memory
• programmable input/output peripherals
• can be mixed signal devices interacting with
  • digital signals
  • analog singals

Microcontrollers are small, low powered and robust, making them perfect for embedded systems such as;

• medical devices
• remote controls
• office machines
• appliances
• power tools
• toys
• wearables!

Arduino is an open source computer hardware and software company, project, and user community ²⁾ .

• the hardware is based on the Amtel 8-bit AVR MCU
• the software uses the Processing IDE, with a simplified version of the C++ language.
• open source has led to the creation of a huge range of
  • clones,
  • compatible devices
  • peripherals
• a strong community means
  • “someone, somewhere has solved the problem”
  • we can run this workshop using and adapting existing resources.

Its time to get started!

Download the latest version of the Arduino IDE.

Select your operating system and when prompted choose “Just Download”.

Follow the instruction and install the program on your computer.

A red and then a green LED will light up on the Arduino, indicating that it's receiving power (for some Arduino's this may just be a single red light).

Now launch Arduino IDE.

Go to the Tools menu and change the following:

• Board to Arduino Nano
• Processor to ATmega328
• Port to USB/Serial (different depending on OS and Chip)
  • If you're having problems finding a USB port you most likely need to download the correct drivers.

    Once again exact OS (and version) as well as the chip make a big difference.

Once that is done, run “Get Board Info” in the same menu, this should bring up a small popup with some information.

As long a you're not receiving an error in the console, you have successfully connected your Arduino!

Another step you can take to test that everything is working is to locate one of the basic example projects and upload it to the Arduino.

• go to File → Examples → 01.Basic → Blink
• click on the verify button (Check mark) and let it compile.

  You should get a message at the top of the console telling you when it's done (this should take no more than a few seconds).

• once this is done, without any errors, click the Upload button (Arrow).
• this will upload the instructions to the Arduino and it will say “Done Uploading” when everything has worked.
• your red LED on the Nano should now be blinking.

  One second on, one second off.

• uploading scripts to your Arduino works!

  Now we are ready for the real projects.

First let's peel the paper and pop out our case parts

And peel off the plastic cover on the LED panel

Then take the LED panel off its board. You can use the back of the pliers

Be gentle and try not to bend the pins

Attach the LED board to the case back panel using the four m2.5 bolts and nuts. The two 12 mm (short) screws are for the top

Then the two 25mm bolts for the bottom

Tighten gently with the screwdriver

Pop the LED panel back on. Check it is the right way round, and the panel is level

We're going to connect five jumper leads to the Arduino from the LED board

• detach one wire from your stack of five
• separate the rest out a little on each end

Attach the wires - from bottom to top:

• SCL/CLK (System Clock)
• DIN(Data In)
• CS (Chip Select)
• GND (Ground)

Feed them through the slot

Flip the case round and place your Nano in the slot

Attach:

• SCL/CLK (System Clock) → D10
• DIN(Data In) → D8
• CS (Chip Select) → D9
• GND (Ground) → GND

Now back to the front, and attach

VCC (Voltage In) → +5V

Plug it into your computer - time to test our blinky lights!

Now its time to check our Arduino and LED are talking to each other.

In order to make the LED display a lot easier to work with we'll need to install a custom version of the MaxMatrix library (found in the download section below)

• go to Sketch → Include Library → Add .ZIP Library
• just find and click the downloaded file and it will be added to your project automatically

Below you will find the project files compressed into a .ZIP file

• extract the content wherever you'd like it and open up the wearables_matrix_ino file
• the .INO file format should be associated with Arduino and will launch automatically
• alternatively you can open Arduino and select the File → Open option in the menu

Note: You won't be able to run this script unless you have downloaded the library above.

It is time to test your project file in your badge. Upload it the same way as the blink file. Your badge should say Free Bear Hugs.

It is time to fit and connect the battery. Both the battery and the charging board have protection circuitry but must always be handled with care.

Make sure you take care when handling the battery.

• check that the RED wire from the battery is connected to B+ and the BLACK wire is connected to B-
• do not let any conductive surfaces or wires touch. (This will short the battery which makes it unusable)
• if this is not correct please notify the facilitator immediately!

  the components will need to be rewired or swapped out

First make some space under the pins of the LED curcuit board

Slide the battery in and hold it in position with your thumb

Slide the USB charge board into the slot

Connect:

• battery - (negative) to Arduino Ground (GND)
• battery + (positive) to Arduino 3V input (3v3)
• your Arduino will light up, and if your battery has enough charge, so will the LED screen

Grab the case front

Use the two remaining m2.5 nuts to fix the front of the case

Grab the case bottom

Line up the Arduino end first

Then slide the case so it sits flat

Its time to hot glue the lanyard clip into place.

First remove the Lanyard clip from the necklace

Hot glue the lanyard clip into the spacer

Slide the lanyard clip in behind the LED screen

Hot glue it in place

Vacuum forming is an almost instantaneous process, so we need to get all set up before we start, and make a jig to hold the case in place

Slide one of the blocks into the jig piece

Hot glue it into place

Line up your jig in the centre of the vacuum former plate

Carefully place your badgeduino on top

Unscrew the wing-nuts on the vacuum former frame

Fit your sheet of plastic in the frame

Tighten the wing-nuts firmly

Begin heating your plastic with the hot air gun

It will slowly start to go clear

Keep heating

When the entire sheet is clear - grab it

And lower it over your badge

• do it from the top - looking down
• do it quickly! You have about 5 seconds before the plastic starts to cool

Turn on your vacuum ….fast

Turn it off when the plastic has gone milky again

Congratulations ! You've made a vacuum form!

Remove the jig

Carefully cut through the thinned plastic with the craft knife

Cut through the thick fins with your scissors

Trim the fins with your knife - always cut away from yourself

Cut free the lanyard socket

Glue the lanyard clip in

Plug your Badgeduino in to test!

While it is beyond the scope of this workshop to teach your how to program your Arduino - here are some tips on:

• changing the displayed text
• displaying a symbol
• changing the speed of the text scrolling

void loop()
{
 // displayText(text1, 100);  // Send scrolling Text
  displayText(text2, 100);  // Send scrolling Text
  //displayCustom(smile01, 1000);
}

Look for the void loop() section. This contains what your Arduino will do once it turns on. In this case it will:

• ignore displayText(text1, 100); as it has been commented out with two backslashes
• displayText(text2, 100)
• ignore displayCustom(smile01, 1000);

Want to change the displayed text?

• look for text2

 char text2[] = " FREE BEAR HUGS!!!    ";  // Scrolling Text

• and change it.

char text2[] = " I Have Changed!!  ";  // Scrolling Text

• MaxMatrix Github

• Project Files
• MaxMatrix Library

These files are for cutting on The Edge Rayjet. Settings are:

• badgeduino_v3.cdr
• badgeduino_v3.dxf
• badgeduino_v3.pdf
• 
• Corel Layout for 12 seat Workshop
• PDF Layout for 12 seat Workshop
• 
• DXF Layout for 12 seat Workshop

Theses are the single shapes as DXFs

• back.dxf
• front.dxf
• base.dxf
• spacer.dxf
• jig.dxf
• mold_blocks_x5.dxf

• V2_housing
• workshop_20180120.zip