In the last two sprints we’ve been working on the realization of the bracelet prototype. For the technology inside of the bracelet, we use an arduino trinket, accelerometer and arduino neopixel lights (and a battery). The prototype bracelet lights up when you move and changes the colors of the lights the longer you move. We decided to change some variables, so you don’t have to move for over an hour to change the colors of the lights. This way people who try out our prototype can get a quick visualisation of the process of the bracelet’s lights. Currently, we’re soldering the parts all together.
For the casing of the bracelet, we’re still not sure what we’re gonna do. We firstly tried to 3d print a case. On a forum we found a 3d model for a bracelet where lights fit in. We edited the model a little to personalize it more, by putting the text ‘chasing colours’ on it. However, during the process we had some difficulties with printing the bracelet; the bracelet got loose from the base, so the print didn’t turn out too well. Still, although it’s not perfect, we might still be able to use it.
We started thinking about other possibilities for the casing. We found out about using silicone to make bracelets. We bought silicone at the Praxis and mixed this with cornflour and oil. We used the 3d printed bracelet as a mold, as well as different other objects like bottles, paper cups and lego. The only problem with this material is that it’s really breakable, and not as stretchy as we thought it would be. It was also really hard to make the bracelets smooth nicely.
It might be so breakable because we used a lot of corn flour, so we might want to try it again in a different way. We used a lot of corn flour because the silicone was really sticky and it was therefore hard to shape it. In the meanwhile we’re gonna use cloth for the casing, so we can put all the parts together nicely and have a working prototype. We can try to make the bracelet more pretty later, but we’re getting close to the deadline…