My project is a basic fitness tracker that uses heart rate data to drive different LEDs. For a low heart rate, or a heart rate below the target zone, the RGB blinks blue at the user’s heart rate. For a heart rate in the zone, it blinks green at the user’s heart rate. And, for above the zone, it blinks red at the user’s heart rate. If the user is either in the zone or above the zone, the LEDs on the top light up progressively. The values could be played with a bit, but after 5 minutes, the first lights up, after 10 minutes, the second, and so on.
I’m somewhat pleased but somewhat disappointed. The heart rate sensor was very finicky and because of that, it was difficult to get consistent readings and get the LED output working properly. I only really had success with the heart rate working in the target zone once, when two of the LEDs across the top lit up after ten minutes. But, this is the furthest I got with that, mainly due to the problems I encountered with the heart rate sensor.
Initially I pitched trying to create an all-encompassing sensor that would incorporate both tracking of heart rate and of lifts via an accelerometer. After watching the difficulties a classmate had with the accelerometer in conjunction with the trouble I was having with consistency in the heart rate sensor, I decided to move forward with the focus of the heart rate sensing capabilities only. But, in terms of this, I did meet my goal pretty well and things worked decently well given the trouble I was having with the heart rate sensor.
Again, the largest hurdle I faced was getting the heart rate sensor to consistently read accurately. Because of this, the functionality was not all there. But, given the trouble I did have and how it turned out, I feel it was fairly successful in overcoming that obstacle. Other than that, I did have some trouble with the sewing, but was able to overcome that… All in all, overcoming the obstacles was made a lot easier through the help of classmates and Kevin and Marianne.
If I had more time, I would look into better heart rate sensors, if there are any out there. It was unfortunate that this was so finicky, so I think a better sensor would only help me in a future iteration of this project. Also, I would definitely look more into the lifting side of a tracker, too, like I had hoped in my initial pitch.