Let me preface this post by saying that, sadly, WordPress will no longer allow me to add new media, nor can I figure out how to delete pieces of media that were previously uploaded to free up space. For this reason, I cannot add any new photos of my (super cool) completed project.

Instead I can describe it to you: The bottom portion is an intricate skyline of Chicago, with the city’s name written underneath. The “O” of Chicago is the Ferris Wheel from Navy Pier, which I think is a nice touch. The four sides of the box have the logos of the Blackhawks, the Bears, the Cubs (the logo with the cute, full cubby bear), and the Bulls. Thinking back on it, I think I would’ve liked to do different etchings on the side, since I’m not overly passionate about all four of the sports teams and I chose them mostly out of convenience or what seemed to “fit”.

Finally, the top, as I have described in a previous post, is a colorful version of the Chicago skyline, with each different building being a different color. Finally, I added LED lights to the tip of the three tallest buildings, and the colors of the thread luckily ended up matching the colors of the lights I selected- there were a limited amount left, but the remaining lights were the perfect colors! Although I can’t add pictures, I assure you the finished product looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

To move on to what we actually learned today, I’ll tell you about our work with LEDs, batteries, battery packs, and conductive thread. It was difficult to figure out a path for each piece of conductive thread to touch only the sides of the sewable LEDs and battery that I wanted, as each piece of thread has to touch either ONLY the negatively charged sides or ONLY the positively charged sides. Since a skyline is pretty linear, I had to do some tricky maneuvering to ensure no wires were crossed. After a few adjustments, my lights worked!

After I completed this final piece, my group and I talked to first Professor Sachdev and then Clinton about our potential final product- a people counter for establishments such as bars, restaurants, and even homeless shelters. We plan on using lasers with infrared sensors- two will be placed at each side of the door, and whichever sensor is tripped first will indicate whether or not a person is entering or leaving. We believe we can find all the parts we need to complete this project, but it will definitely take some extensive time and research on our part.