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  • Author Author: dougw
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Safe and Sound - Hazardous Factors System - ARM Car - blog 13

dougw

This last week has seen a lot of time on mechanical CAD and 3D printing to try and squeeze the MQTT subscriber system into a wearable package.

I called it the ARM Car because it looks like a car and it is a TI ARM chip to be worm on an arm.

Here is a picture of the ARM Car driving down the information highway:

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Starting with the high stack of circuit boards - it is non-trivial to figure out how to make it wearable:

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The package is assembled from 4 main plastic sections, a wrist bracket, a base, a cover and a bezel:

imageimageimageimage

Here is a picture of the parts (the bracket is already screwed to the base):

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Note the battery also has a 3D printed bracket and the rods for the strap are also 3D printed.

Here is a picture of the system in operation:

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Here is another angle showing the height and the fit on my arm:

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The system was always going to be fairly big, but it turned out to be a nice robust package that can be securely and comfortably strapped to an arm and is  super easy to use. The only control needed is the power button on the battery, although the 3 switches on the Launchpad are all still accessible.

It isn't too visible in these photos, but the various LEDs inside really illuminate the plastic, creating a nice effect without being annoyingly bright.

I have printed some parts for the other 3 armbands (radiation sensor, electromagnetic sensor and chemical sensor), but am still waiting for some parts to show up before they can be finalized. I have a couple of other RF sensors that I may blog about too, but I don't think I will be able to fit them on my arm. When the 4 armbands are all complete I will take some video.

Hopefully I will get to a discussion of RF hazards in my next blog.

 

All links to blogs related to this project can be found in the first blog here:

Safe and Sound - Invisible Hazardous Environmental Factors Monitoring System - blog 1

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  • Not bad for the first proof of concept.

     

    Once you get the configuration working and verify its usefulness, you can always refine the design.

     

    Have you considered doing it as a chest mounted device with just the display on the arm?

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    You are correct, the chest might allow devices to be a little less conspicuous, but that is a lower priority for me.

    This module is really just a remote MQTT display for the separate chemical sensor module, but it is a good excuse to use the same launchpad - the size is due to the standard Boosterpack connectors and the fact that I didn't want to break off the programming section of the Launchpad. The chemical sensor module will be a bit larger since it has an extra PCB, so this display module won't look out  of place next to it. The other sensors are about the same footprint but thinner. The idea is to make each device a self-contained unit with display that can be left somewhere to monitor for hazards. They will occupy my whole forearm, but that is okay - the plan is to make the supplied kit wearable and usable. The forearm is a compromise but it allows the displays to be seen while allowing one-handed access to controls, and it allows sampling hazards at least half an arm-length away.

    It might be even bigger that the Predator forearm controller:

    image

  • in reply to dougw

    I was just thinking that you can off load some of the weight from the arm.

     

    I agree that getting the sensors and displays at arm length would be very useful.

     

    I also agree, something like the predator gauntlets just look cool and have the right structure for what you are doing.

     

    DAB

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