Smart Pedometer

Image of Setup

Inspiration

Running and walking have always been health activities that have been stagnant over the years. As technology continues to develop, we found that these activities have not seen the same improvements as other health categories. When running/walking, users can only record their step counts and set goals on their phone applications, but they receive little to no feedback/encouragement from these technologies.

What it does

Our smart pedometer hardware project allows the user to input a desired step count. The hardware attaches to the user, and as the user walks/runs, it records their steps accurately and checks to see if the user has reached the desired step count. Once the user reaches their goal, they will be notified through haptic feedback, as well as an SMS message and an echo3D model link congratulating them on reaching their health goals!

How we built it

To track steps we used an the x-axis accelerometer data from an IMU. Once passes angles thresholds, steps are counted. Once the fitness goal that is inputted by the user via Twilio is met, haptic vibration is dispensed using a motor driver. In addition, feedback is given by Twilio as well.

For the SMS service, we implemented a custom Twilio ESP32 library to interact with the ESP32 microcontroller. This uses the microcontroller’s WIFI connection to allow users to interact with Twilio over a network SSID. The goal of the SMS implementation is to send text messages to the user’s device while using a Twilio-generated number. The program begins by connecting the device to WIFI and creating a Twilio object using the Twilio API with an account SID and Authentication Token. Twilio sends a congrats message once the goal is met and an echoAR model.

Challenges we ran into

Our SMS service code requires wifi so we run it on a ESP32 while the IMU needs a connection to a specific port on the Arduino Uno. As such syncing a response to a succeful goal was difficult. Due to hardware limitations, we didn't have a wifi shield for the arduino. Our solution was to attempt UART communication between the two boards but we weren't able to complete that goal within the timeframe.