Eyes in the back of your back

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or, Vibro Vest. Name suggestions encouraged!

Rachel and others are creating a vest that will allow the wearer to feel side-to-side movement behind them. This will be done by a set of motion sensors connected to a touch display (of pager motors, at least initially). The first prototype will have a one dimensional display so that up & down motion will not be detected, but this can probably be added later once some of the more pressing problems are solved. We have not yet made a final determination on the prototype sensors but have had some success with ultrasonic rangefinders.

Current Status

Parallax PING))) works but we don't like it so much. Got a Maxbotics MAXSonar EZ-1 functional in its analog mode, with LED standing in for motor (the shift register not yet integrated) but have failed at reading its serial out.

Note: EZ-1's serial output is RS232 and most embedded systems expect TTL. -Reed

Integrate the shift register (wait until sensor decision is made? it would be cool to have an end-to-end thing...)

I (Rachel) have a fairly detailed mental model of the armature but have not made it yet.

Next Steps

  • Try out IR sensor? Daniela has lent us one, and I think there's some others in the bin plus of course the 900 PIR boards upstairs...
  • Buy the other US sensor I found? Its specs beat out both the Maxbotics and the PING))). Decide later.