For this assignment, I decided to create something that would make sense rather than just something funny. Many people, especially students, are known to have trouble concentrating on their work. Thanks to our phones and social media, YouTube, Netflix, and other stuff inside, the focus span of a young person is deteriorating. The idea behind my device is specifically targeting people who lack self-discipline and cannot spend even a little time without looking at the screens of their phones – this can be adults, teenagers, or even kids. I decided to call it the Antiprocrastination iPhone Case.
Concept
The concept is simple – the tracking device, which can be attached to any surface, and the case itself.
1) You can put the tracking device on your desk if you are using it for yourself. However, for people like parents or teachers who want to use the device to not allow their children or students to look at their phones, it is recommended to put the device in the common area.
2) Put the iPhone case on. It is equipped with a special electrified silk on the backside that transfers the signal to the green LED lamp whenever it is lying on the surface of the tracking device. Thus, if you see the green light, it means that everything is good and the phone is connected to the tracking device.
3) As soon as the phone leaves the surface of the tracking device, the lamp turns off, indicating that the person is trying to use the phone.
Refer to the video below to check how it works:
P.S. don’t mind my tired voice, it’s been a pretty packed weekend haha
Reflection
The idea was simple to implement – I used the same logic that the professor showed us during the class. What I did differently was the usage of electrified silk that would be cut into 3 pieces. 2 would lie on the table with wires connected to them and with a short distance between them, so the chain would not be closed until the third bigger piece of silk would cover both of the smaller ones from the top. I attached the bigger piece to the iPhone case, and whenever it lies on the smaller pieces, the chain gets closed, and electricity circles and flows as intended, which allows the LED light to turn on.
It is the Antiprocrastination iPhone Case 1.0 as it does not include advanced features. For example, I could add the sound effect whenever the iPhone is removed to warn a user. I could also make the vice-versa LED light effect by, for instance, putting on the red LED light and turning it on whenever the iPhone is removed from the surface.
Anyway, I enjoyed my first experience with Arduino and I am extremely excited to learn more in the upcoming classes to start building more advanced things.