Proposal: Running StepTracker Music Player - popege/ECE387_Individual_Final GitHub Wiki

Background Information

There are lots of people who enjoy running, whether it be for personal fitness goals, personal pleasure, or some sort of goal or objective. And one of the most common pieces of media equipment people use while running is headphones with music. It not only helps to distract the individual from fatigue, but also can be used as a type of motivation to help people push themselves to keep going, and overall makes running more enjoyable.

Primary Objective

My main goal for this project would be to implement a device that tracks the number of steps an individual takes per minute, and use that information to select music with a specific tempo (beats per minute) that will match their running pace. I want to implement it so that if the individual slows down or speeds up slightly, the music won't change because it would be annoying if the songs were just continually changing, and most people's steps per minute are not the exact same minute by minute. Instead, changes say, greater than 10-20 steps per minute would indicate a song change. The steps per minute of the individual would be measured about every 60 - 90 seconds so that the individual can enjoy the current song, and only if the individual's pace has changed enough to indicate a song change would the song actually change. The songs would most likely be played via bluetooth to eliminate extra cords from wired headphones to give the individual more freedom.

Preliminary Goals

The device would contain songs preloaded onto it, with various beats per minute. I would need to write code to tell the device which songs are in which beats per minute category. Then I would implement a StepTracker to calculate the steps per minute taken by the individual, and use that to select a song. From then on I would measure the steps taken per minute again after 60-90 seconds, and compare that to the current song being played. If the steps per minute has changed drastically compared to the current song, the song will change. Otherwise, the current song will continue to be played until another steps per minute measurement has been taken and new data can be compared.

Additional Possible Goals

-Implementing an LCD screen to show data like steps per minute as well as the song playing (could be problematic because of additional wiring and weight, assuming the user will be wearing the item)

-Extra cosmetic detail such as a way to wear the device(i.e a wristband, armstrap, and/or a shell covering the device because the user will most like be perspiring)

-Ability for user to add their own songs(would need code to calculate approximate beats per minute for new songs added)

Materials Needed

-Microcontroller (Arduino Uno)

-LCD to display information

-Force Sensitive Resistor (to track steps)

-Micro SD card to store music

-Micro SD card reader for Arduino