Wearables

Wearables are pieces of hardware that are to be worn in order to collect data such as heart rate, blood pressure, or heat.
The definition can be simplified to any wearable technology which interfaces or collects data from us. Ultimately the goal of wearables is to create "smart" devices which can facilitate certain aspects of life. For example, wearables are a relevant aspect of the medical field as they can be used to constantly monitor the vitals of patients.

Tech Kits

Tech Kits are part of the walk-in service provided by OPIM Innovate. There are three levels of difficulty meant for different users and their experience with the different technologies. Many of the Tech Kits build off each other as you progress.

Beginner

Introducing Wearable Technology

Length: 30 Minutes

Description: The Adafruit FLORA is an Arduino-compatible microcontroller designed for wearable applications. This tech kit guides users as they interface the FLORA with NeoPixels. These are the Adafruit’s addressable LED lights, and they can be used to add blinking and color-changing effects to wearable projects.

Intermediate

Reading Data from a Sensor to a Microcontroller

Length: 45 Minutes

Description: Velostat is a thin, flexible material that can be used as a pressure or stretch sensor. This tech kit guides users as they read data from a Velostat sensor to an Adafruit FLORA. The code utilized in the kit is capable of reading data from a variety of other sensors.

Advanced

Developing a Heart Rate Monitor

Length: 60 Minutes

Description: Building upon the first two exercises, this tech kit guides users in connecting the Adafruit FLORA to a PulseSensor, a portable heart rate sensor. By teaching users how to incorporate biometrics data, it helps create a heart rate monitor that provides warnings when an observed rate falls out of range.  

Resources

Pulse Sensors

Quantity: 1

Description: An Arduino-compatible device for measuring heart rate

Arduino IDE

Type: Software

Description: In the Arduino IDLE you can enter code and run programs.

 

MyoWare Kit

Quantity: 1

Description: Includes everything required to prototype muscle-sensing projects
Muscle sensor including: cable shield, for attaching additional electrodes; power shield, for battery power; proto shield, for prototyping; LED shield, which includes a battery and LEDs

Pulse Sensors

Quantity: 1

Description: An Arduino-compatible device for measuring heart rate

Bluetooth Transceiver

Quantity: 1

Description: Adds Bluetooth LE functionality to microcontroller projects