Week 10

The hardware component of the glove has been finalized and the program is also done. Below is the final overview of the program.

The code used was a modified version of what was found on the website, https://github.com/WorldFamousElectronics/PulseSensor_Amped_Arduino

Week 9

The board, battery and pulse sensor are added onto the glove and a cloth is used to cover it up and give it a clean finish. The code was worked on to enhance what was researched as well as improve upon how to obtain the resting heart rate. An issue that presided itself was that when the board was attached to the battery it wouldn't work because the system wasn't fully closed. Every time the board was attached the program was reprogrammable. The problem was too advanced so we spent a few more days working it out. Using a PC we tested the heart monitor to make sure that it followed the code. For testing things like jumping jacks, push ups and sit-ups. The test was unsuccessful because the lights were not matching with the heartrate that was showing up. Next week adjustments to the glove have to be made and the program needs to be finalized.

Week 8

More of the hardware component was worked on today. The battery holder is big and so is the Arduino board so it was decided that the design had to change. The CAD design that was being worked on was replaced with a glove. The idea is taking a baseball glove and connecting the board and the battery on top of it so that there is enough space for both the things and the user has enough mobility to be able to exercise with it on. Below is a picture of the glove that we will be using. The tips will be cut off for mobility and the pulse sensor will easily attach to the thumb so it can take its pulse. Also attached below is a screenshot of a section of the code that is used to program when the lights on the glove will go off.

Week 7

A few adjustments were met to complete the design of the heart monitor. The first change made was the placement of the pulse sensor. The sensor is most efficient when it is placed at the thumb. The idea will be as shown below:

"Pulse Sensor Getting Started Guide", pulsesensor.com. [Online]. Available: https://pulse-sensor.googlecode.com/files/PulseSensorAmpedGettingStartedGuide.pdf. [Accessed: 11- May- 2016].

Deciding what batteries to use was a huge hurdle because the decision of whether the batteries should be rechargeable or not was a big part of the project and it make sure that the batteries were going to be enough to power the entire monitor. We decided to not to rechargeable batteries and stick with the cell batteries that we would make the user change whenever it ran out. A proper holder for the batteries was needed so we ordered, the links for that arec below. Another revision was made to the lights, we decided to do was change what the lights represented. Yellow means barely working out, green means in target heart rate, 2 greens means working hard (really good), and read means over.
Battery Holder

Coin Cell Batteries

Week 6

After researching for weeks the basics for programming the Arduino board was put into place. The basics included getting the lights to light up with the pulse sensor and deciding how the user would start the setup of the heart monitor. Meanwhile, a few enhancements were made to hardware component, the Arduino board was connected to the bread board to get the lights to work. The lights were working exceptionally well and space was found on the Arduino board for all three lights. A few concerns were to have the wrist watch design be able to read the pulse sensor, the exact placement of the pulse sensor and how to incorporate the batteries into the wrist design. Another accomplishment was getting the pulse sensor to read the pulse. A design for the casing of the breaker board was started, measurements of it was taken:

   length: 2.8 cm

   width: 2.3 cm

   height: 0.4 cm

Week 5

The breaker board was soldered onto the Arduino board. This gave an idea of the basic shape of the monitor designs for the band could be brainstormed. A few things were still pending in the wiring with the LED lights. The questions arose, where to attach the LED lights, if the lights would have enough volts and if a resistor was necessary. To answer some of the questions a voltage of 5 volts was measured across the Arduino board using a volt meter. Another issue that came up was that there were only 8 spots available on the Arduino boards, therefore all the pieces that had to be attached onto to the board would have to fit in just right. To make things less congested there might be a change in design and only two light would be in use. The two lights in use would then be the yellow and red one. Yellow would indicate person to increase their workout intensity and the red would do the opposite. There would no light for a heart rate in the target range.

Week 4

This week experiment using the software component of the heart rate monitor was initialized. Two things were accomplished, an idea for what kind of code is needed for the monitor and a basic shape for the wristband. The coding for the Arduino board is different than the basic knowledge needed for coding, therefore it was difficult to familiarize with. A basic sketch of the wristband was made, however not all the parts needed were in possession therefore the dimensions of the band are not accurate.