Concept:
The idea for creating an unusual switch with my arm actually struck me while I was at the gym. As I was practicing with dumbbells, I thought, “Why not use the motion of my arm to activate a switch?” When I was doing bicep curls — you know, the exercise where you pull the dumbbells up toward your shoulders, maybe called as bicep curls— it clicked. I needed some conductors that could connect the wires and pass electricity when my arm moved upward. I initially thought of using aluminum foil, but that felt too common. I wanted to do something different, so I decided to go with aloe vera gel instead. It seemed like a more unique choice, and I was curious to see how well it would conduct electricity.
Hardware Used:
- Arduino
- LED
- 330 ohm resistor
- Jumper wires
- Breadboard
- Aloe vera gel (as a conductor)
- Aluminum foil (optional, used for wrapping, but didn’t use)
- Glue to attach the aloe vera slices with a decorative plant that can be wrapped around my arm
Process:
- Prepare the Aloe Vera Gel: I first applied some aloe vera gel to the inside of my elbow, creating a path for electricity when my arm bends during the bicep curl motion. This would serve as a conductor, allowing the current to flow when I made contact. But, it did not work. So, I used this decorative plant to wrap my arm and put the aloe vera slices glued on to it.
- Set Up the LED Circuit:
- I placed the LED on the breadboard, with the shorter leg (cathode) on one row and the longer leg (anode) on another.
- I connected a 330 ohm resistor to the same row as the shorter leg of the LED. The other end of the resistor was connected to one of the Arduino’s GND pins.
- Then, I took a jumper wire and connected the row with the longer leg of the LED (anode) to digital pin 13 on the Arduino.
- Integrate the Aloe Vera Gel as the Switch:
- I connected a jumper wire from the Arduino’s 5V pin to one piece of aloe vera that was in contact with my elbow.
- Another jumper wire went from the same piece of aloe vera to pin 2 on the Arduino (set up as an input pin).
- I then placed the second piece of aloe vera on the outer part of my elbow, completing the circuit when my arm was bent.
- Coding the Arduino:
- In the code, I used
digitalRead()to check if there was a connection between the two pieces of aloe vera (when the gel completed the circuit during the bicep curl). - If the circuit was closed, the LED would turn on. When I relaxed my arm, breaking the connection, the LED would turn off.
- In the code, I used
- Testing: I tried different amounts of aloe vera gel and even experimented with wrapping aluminum foil around the gel for better conductivity. Eventually, I found a sweet spot where the gel was conductive enough to switch the LED on and off based on my arm movement.
Pictures From The Process:
The circuit:
This is the circuit with aloe vera slices and decor plant on my arm.
Unfortunately, the decor plant did not work properly. So, I used a black rope ( does not look good) to tie aloe vera with my arm directly. Here is the final one!
Video of the switch:
Reflection and Future Implementation:
- Need to find a way to adjust the aloe vera properly on my arm as I tried to use glue on a decor plant which did not work and gave me burning sensation on my elbow area instead.
- Overall, I find it amusing to work with aloe vera and electronics. It was fun!