Rain Loving Umbrellas
Created by:
Ishana Rhea Ramtohul
Adza Tarka
Sofia Gervasoni
Nikolai Langguth
Project Brief: Rain Loving Umbrellas
An umbrella in your rack sack or bag is a necessity when you are living in the UK. Conventional and common umbrellas have one purpose of either sheltering you from the rain or protecting you from burning sunrays (not really an issue while living here!). Can you bring umbrellas to life by letting them light in different patterns through LEDs responding to rain drops? You can use pressure sensors to sense raindrops and light up the specific LEDs cluster. Or maybe you can use less expensive solutions understanding that water has high dielectric constant and hence resistance, which means it can change the voltage potential in a circuit such as our hand changing the flow of current in any electronic circuit.
Overview:
Climate in the UK is unpredictable, it could start pouring at any time in the day. Rainy and gloomy days can be depressing. This product is specifically designed to improve such experiences. Our interactive umbrella is connected to multiple LEDs which react to rain. If it is drizzling, it will create a ‘glowing’ effect by lighting up some LEDs. More LEDs are triggered depending on the rain intensity by using rain sensors that are attached to the umbrella.
An on/off button is also present if the user doesn’t want any effect and just have a normal umbrella.
(Additional buttons will also be present to change the colour of the LEDs depending on the personal choice of the user.) YES or NO??
FEATURES:
- Windproof and lightweight
- Equipped with LED Light for increased visibility
- Futuristic design
- Different light effects depending on rain
- Different LED colours available
- Safe in the rain on a dark night
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Control: On/Off Button
- 3 Buttons for colour warm white , white , magenta
- Lighting mode: Gentle – Moderate – Full intensity flashing
- Battery: 1 x AA 9V battery
- Rib Number: 8
- Length: Approx. 80cm
- Unfold Diameter: Approx. 90-100cm
Purpose:
The reason behind designing an interactive umbrella is to create a fun and enjoyable experience for people that hate the rainy season. It can solve issues related to weather depression by lighting up their mood with our multiple LEDs.
Target audience:
Our main point of interest is Londoners as this city is known for its unpredictable weather and rainy days. However it can be suitable for any person living in such cities.
Market research:
Before finalising the design and functionalities of our object, we conducted a brief market research to understand what it already has to offer and analyzed a few existing electronic and interactive umbrellas.
Here are a few examples:
- Florabella – https://learn.adafruit.com/florabrella
- Stella – https://www.instructables.com/id/Pressure-Activated-Light-Up-Umbrella/
TASK LIST:
- Brainstorming – all
- Research – all
- product main idea – all
- Concept + Sketches – Sofia
- Order Components – Rhea
- Storyboard – Sofia
- Low-fi prototype – Nikolai
- Pseudo code – Adza, Rhea
- Test components – Adza
- Code – Adza, Rhea, Sofia
- Assemble components – all
- High-fi prototype – Nikolai
- Final touch ups – all
- Testing and Debugging – Adza , Rhea
- Maker Manual – Nikolai , Sofia
- Pictures , videos – Sofia
- Meeting Notes – Adza
- Design Blog – Nikolai + all
- Presentation – all
GANTT CHART
The gantt chart helped us to :
-Visualize linked tasks, due dates and dependencies.
-The amount of time it takes to finish specific tasks.
-And who is assigned to each part of the project.
