Materials Required - popege/ECE387_Individual_Final GitHub Wiki

In order to implement this device, there are 4 main pieces needed: a micro controller, a way to track steps, a way to display information, and a way to store and play music.

For the micro controller, I used an Arduino Uno. However, almost all forms of the Arduino controllers could be used for this project. You can find this on Amazon for $12.

In order to track the steps taken by the user, I used a pressure sensitive resistor, which was placed on the bottom of the shoe or in the shoe under the foot. The sensor allows you to detect physical pressure, squeezing, and weight applied to it. In addition, it acts as a resistor that changes value depending on how much it is pressed. The sensor is at around 100,000 Ohms of resistance when not being pressed, but can go down to as low as 500 Ohms when a force of 10,000 grams (22 pounds) is applied to it. You can find one on Amazon for $7.

In order to display the information I want (number of steps taken total as well as average pace per minute) I used a 16x2 LCD display. It's on Amazon for $6. While you will also need a potentiometer to vary the voltage sent to the display from the micro controller, its price is negligible.

In addition, the most important device needed to implement this design is the Audio device. For this I implemented the SmartWAV Audio Processor from Vizic Technologies. This device has two modes: serial and standalone mode. Within serial mode, The user can upload code to the device for commands. However, standalone mode allows the user to have direct control over some useful inputs using pushbuttons like skip track, rewind, volume up, volume down, and pause/play. This device utilizes a processor that takes data from the MicroSDHC card bay and feeds it via wave files to the onboard 3.5mm audio jack. This can be found on Vizic Technologies' website for $25.

Lastly, you'll need some headphones if you want to listen to music. In this case, any pair of earphones or headphones that are compatible with a 3.5mm audio jack are usable.