Kid-Katch

A puffer jacket that grows with your baby (age of 1 to 6 years old) with Bluetooth proximity detection

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Inspiration

Infants have an average growth rate of over 1” per month. By adding expandability to kids fashion, the increased longevity of use promotes a cost-effective product that inculcates the value of sustainability and slow fashion. Also inspired by the importance of child safety, the function of Bluetooth proximity detection is incorporated.

What it does

  • Children's puffer jacket is expandable in body length, width and sleeves length through zipper
  • Bluetooth proximity sensor is embedded in the puffer
  • If your baby is out of range, the jacket will light up, and the parent will get an alarm (both sound and visual) on their phone app

How I built it

  • Polyester shell with felt fabric as dimension filler
  • Assembled the garment using a sewing machine
  • Adafruit Lilypad (Circuit Playground Express) embedded in the puffer to simulate Bluetooth proximity detection
  • Adafruit Feather Bluefruit as Bluetooth proximity sensor

Challenges I ran into

  • Having the Adafruit Lilypad respond to my code commands in a timely manner
  • Time was limited to actualize the function of Bluetooth proximity detection
  • Limited resources: detachable zippers, VELCRO

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  • Being able to create a physical prototype
  • Incorporating technology into a garment that also grows with the wearer
  • Being able to encourage slow fashion and sustainability practices through kids fashion

What I learned

  • Learned how to create a children's puffer jacket
  • Learned the basis for how to actualize the incorporation of technology into fashion

What's next for Kid-Katch

  • We would like to take our prototype to the next level by actualizing the Bluetooth detector with Arduino and Adafruit Feather Bluefruit.
  • Enable user to adjust the proximity range Bluetooth sensors of increasing range (~32 ft to 328 ft).
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