<aside> 🖌️

In class activity

</aside>

This week, we used XBEEs to create a remote wireless controller for LED together with LilyPad Arduino. The whole device is divided into two parts: XBee A and XBee B. The original plan was to create a remote controller to interact with the LED lights.

We first worked on XBee A. The basic structure consists of a sensor/switch, lilypad, and breadboard. We connected XBee with Lilypad, and both devices worked after connecting the cables to the laptop. However, the codes in Arduino did not work. At first, we thought it was because the USB cables did not work. However, after changing the cables, and double-checking the port and board (because it was the main reason we failed when doing week 2 assignment). However, we still could not upload the codes to Arduino. Finally, we realized that USB cable was connected to XBee A instead of Lilypad. We solved this problem and tried to connect our devices to XCTU and it showed “Reset your radio module” many times even if we changed the cables and the portals. And we don’t know how to solve it in the end. So we don’t have a chance to connect XBee A to XBee B.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial mySerial(10, 11); // RX, TX

// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
  // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second in your serial port:
  mySerial.begin(9600);
}

// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
  // read the input on analog pin 0:
  int sensorValue = analogRead(A5);
  // print out the value you read in your serial port:
  mySerial.println(sensorValue);
  delay(100);        // delay in between reads for stability
}

https://youtu.be/YvKeC86byhA

Then we focused on the circuit build of XBee B, the circuit and cables were connected well, but we couldn’t upload the codes to XBee B, we’ve already checked the cables, port, and the board, and all stuff was set correctly, but we still couldn’t upload the code to the lilypad B. On the other computer, the same problem appeared again; the XCTU showed “Reset your radio module,” and even though we reset it over and over again, it didn’t work in the end.

Because Wendy was in the last class and worked with Lydia and Yinyin before. We set our part A correctly and Johnny and Ken had many parts of debugging in the XBee B. We could control the LED’s brightness but we couldn't control the Neopixels, and we changed the number of bulbs on Neopixels and we finally could control the brightness of one bulb on Neopixels.

https://youtu.be/_4QWPjMwqFQ

<aside> 🖌️ How do you imagine you could use what you learned today for a wearable?

</aside>

I think this technology can be used in interactive accessories. For example, glowing eyelashes, or jewelry such as earrings and necklaces that can make sounds. In addition, I think of a kind of sneaker I wore as a child: the user simply walks or strokes the ground, there will be a string of light-emitting LED lights on the bottom of the shoe. This "pressure" can be seen as a switch or sensor. I think this device can be used as a small design ingenuity.