Week 1: Final Project Proposal and Website Building
As a second semester senior, I spent the better part of last semester trying to figure out what I am going to do with my life after college. I got very lucky though and talked to the right people at a big conference, eventually scoring me an awesome job where I will be working in Fairbanks, AK with an oceanography lab at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. For this job, I will be splitting time on a research boat, in the lab, and being the outreach coordinator for the lab! However, it also means moving to Alaska, which I am generally very, very excited for, but it does come with a whole host of challenges, including the cold, dark, and distance from my loved ones. My final project ideas revolve around solving these problems.
Idea 1 : Electrically Warmed Jacket or Gloves
The obvious challenge of Alaska is the brutally cold winters. I have two ideas for how to address this, but they both revolve around the same concept of having heating elements help to warm me directly. However, I am slightly concerned about putting heating elements inside something fluffy and flammable, and I also do not think that they would fare well in the washing machine. The first idea is a very thin vest made primarily of an easily hand-washable material that contains the heating elements. I would then wear a jacket on top of that. This would mean the elements are not in the jacket, which allows me to wear it with any jacket I want, wash the jacket, and not be as worried about starting a fire. The other idea is not as elegant in addressing these issues, but I could make a similar mitten liner that has the heating elements on it that would fit in my mittens, allowing me to use it with any mittens and wash those mittens. Maybe I could make the heating elements easily removable from the liner to allow for easier washing. Regardless, these would both have temperature sensors and emergency shutoffs for overheating, a control pack that allows me to adjust the temperature, pressure sensors to ensure that its only on when I am wearing it, and a battery indicator.
Something like this but better
Idea 2: Sunrise Alarm Clock/System
Another obvious challenge of Alaska is that in the dead of winter, Fairbanks will only receive a few hours of light, and definitely not when I need to be waking up. To help me with this, I want to make an alarm clock that simulates a sunrise to help me wake up in the morning. It would start brightening my room ~30 minutes before I need to wake up, and it will play an alarm when it is time to wake up. This would need to replicate the color of the sunlight as closely as possible and be bright enough to light up the whole room. I would also want to add all kinds of bells and whistles like the ability to just turn the sun on whenever I wanted, the ability to play nature sounds or spray essential oils, and other things like that to help me wake up and avoid seasonal depression.
Something like this but better
Idea 3: Long-distance Touch Communicator
I am also worried about being so far away and disconnected from my loved ones. This project would be a small object (like a cylinder or an obelisk or maybe something soft) that could sit on my bedside table and help me stay in touch with loved ones while I am so far away. I would make a pair of these objects that were linked together, and it would feature LED matricies and warming elements on all sides of the object. When one of the objects were touched, the other one would light up and warm up in the exact spot that the other was touched in at the same time its touched. This would be a fun and easy way to let the other person know that you are thinking about them, and it provides a tactile and visual response, which I think would be nice. It would be battery powered and feature USB-C charging and would probably also include an app or other piece of software.
Something like this but better
