This week I was once again experiencing a new way program an Arduino at the Fab Lab. However this time around I was learning how to solder for an Arduino to be permanently created. The process of learning how to solder I found much more challenging compared to placing pints into a pin holder which we did last week. After about an hour of training from our student instructor, I was able to start understanding how to effectively solder wires and program them into the arduino processor.

Cool project I found at the Fab Lab: Basketball hoop that counts how many times a point has been scored. Uses sensor and arduino to display # of shots made.

My soldered arduino set:

Overall, it seems soldering the pins is a solution for something that is going to be created for permanent use. Compared to the bread board option I tried in week 1, that would be for more of a temporary and testing solution. I still prefer using the bread board, however I feel that given time and more practice soldering will be a better way of creating what ever prototype our group programs if we use an Arduino.

Finally my group pitched our product idea. Currently we want to develop a product that can measure a certain amount of PSI in sporting equipment balls and inform a user that it needs to be filled . This way a sport manager or participant is informed if a ball is properly inflated. I am excited to see where this project goes, however I still do have some concerns about it. First, I do think there is a need for a product like this, however I do concede that it is not a significant need. Although a convenience of knowing which and when a ball needs to be inflated would be usefull, many balls stay inflated for months at a time and don’t need to be checked as often. At the same time when leagues or recreation leagues are dealing with a significant amount of sport balls, they may not have as much time to ensure proper inflation.

Regardless I am excited to start using some of the skills and software we are using into implementation of a prototype in the coming weeks. Moreover, I think it is possible that our product idea can certainly still be adjusted to fit a greater need as well.