Smart lamp
A Problem to solve
Sleep is essential, yet we often see compromises made affecting sleep quality or duration. Unlike, smartphones, we humans need to power down to recharge, we cannot just plug and play.
Such compromises made can be due to a range of factors such as daily routine, workload, losing track of time, environmental, etc.
Project Uplift
Project uplift was an idea for a device to help maintain good sleep hygiene.
LIGHT is A powerful tool
It was found that light is a key factor affecting sleep. It does so both directly, by making it difficult for people to fall asleep, and indirectly, by influencing the timing of our internal clock and thereby affecting our preferred time to sleep.
The thinking then moved towards ways to use light to help maintain good sleep hygiene.
Leading up to initial ideas
Project analysis
Broke the problem down into its constituent parts
Literature review
Building a better understanding of the different aspects of the problem
Specification
Provide requirements and guidelines of the final product
Mood boards
Used as inspiration for concepts
Initial ideas and EValuation
Initial sketches
Six initial ideas
Initial CAD models
CAD models and renderings from initial sketches
Review of initial ideas
Using the specification to review and choose the most suitable idea moving forward
Concept development
Development of the design
A push towards a even more outlandish design
Electronics
Electronics to control the light output and enclosures to house them
User interface
A touchscreen interface for the user to interact with the product
LEADING UP TO the FINAL PROTOTYPe
Prototyping
Iterative process
Evaluation
Development and evaluation of various aspects of the product
Final prototype manufacturing plans
Details on tasks, time allocated and material usage
Drawings
Drawings of the product, sub-assemblies and parts
FINAL PROTOTYPe - Key features
Light ring change in form
The light ring can change in size over time to mimic sunrise or sunset, or change to be used as a desk lamp.
Light intensity and tone adjustable
Light intensity and tone can be adjusted either manually or set to change automatically close to wake up and bedtime.
Touch screen interface
Large touch screen provides all the product's controls.
Reflection
This project was one of the most thorough up to this point.
It was the first proper experience of the iterative process in development cycles, which will soon be the norm in future projects.Â
Overall, the end result was a success, with a functioning prototype and plans for manufacturing. However, it was perhaps too comprehensive. The time usage was far from ideal and there are many kinks that needed to be ironned out moving forward. All in all, the project gave a good insight of what is likely to come. Efficiency and time management were the biggest things to focus on and improve for future iterative processes.