Chill Circuit With (Too) Many Switches
Living in the fast paced age of information often leads to information overload. No matter where I look, I’m often bombarded with way more information than I need or want making it difficult to spend time just experiencing the world. So last weekend I decided to make something that would help me facilitate an environment that promoted relaxing and taking a step back from all the excessive advertisements and bombardment of interruptions.
The way I did this was by making a simple circuit that would only light an LED if my room door was closed, I had a comfortable scarf on and had my phone on a piece of paper (and out of my hands). A way to make it sure that all these requirements were met was to create a switch for each one and to have them in series. The circuit won’t be closed unless all of these criteria are met.
Since I didn’t have any switch components, I searched my home for any conductive material. I found foil, sew-in metal clasps and I had conductive copper tape from class.
In addition to the above items, I also used a basic breadboard, a 9 volt battery, battery connector, solid 22 gauge wire, 1K Ω resistor, a red LED and a lot of alligator clips. Here’s a video where I tested all of these components and conductive materials to make sure they worked before I sewed or put anything on my wall:
The foil I used on the door and door frame, such that when the door was closed the two pieces of foil would touch. I sewed the metal clasp onto a shawl styled scarf (and regretted not getting conductive thread). Lastly, I decided to use conductive tape to create a simple paper circuit that would allow the tape to touch the longer leg of the LED when pressed, in my case, when my phone is on it.
Although all this circuit does is light an LED, it served as a visual reminder that it’s time to relax! The chances of me using this at its current state are pretty slim, but I do like the idea of stepping away from my phone and other distractions to just chill. Perhaps I’ll revisit this idea and re-design the way it works in the future~(=^..^)/!
