The idea for our project was to create something that could be passed down from generation to generation, but allowed them to have a closer connection as well. This collar allows you to record your stories and when a relative goes back to that spot the collar will light up and start playing the story.

Two weeks ago the entire group had a large meeting to decide which IPP project they wanted to do. Because it was the Fall term all the IPP projects were continuations of projects that we had done in the past over the term. All the projects that the coaches suggested we continue were written  on the board and we were allowed to pick the ones we especially liked. Our entire group decided to work on the Visual Lullaby and a couple of us chose to work on the Floating Jacket so we combined the two ideas. After lots of research and sewing we decided to scrap the jacket part and continue on a variation of the headrest; a collar.

The Memory collar is made up of three main parts that we each chose to focus on  : the LEDS, the recording piece, and the GPS. The LEDs are programmed to make the trailing light pattern that it does currently inspired by sound waves and have it light up when a person returns to where a story was recorded. The sound aspect made up of an Arduino UNO connected to an Adafruit audio sound fx board. Finally, the collar’s structure is made of acrylic hinged to felt which is sewn to a layer of cotton with batting in between for comfort.

Originally we wanted to combine the Visual Lullaby and the Floating Jacket attaching the headrest to the hood, but after spending time thinking about it, we felt that the project lacked a focus group and we changed directions. Another one of our ideas was having the jacket to be the recording device and having the lights attached to the shoulders like epaulettes. We liked the idea of having the jacket be passed down from generation to generation and having them travel to hear the stories from their family members.  However, once we tried making our own jacket we felt that the whole piece would be very clunky and hard to transport  so we focused on making something that was easier to move. After lots of brainstorming, we decided that the collar would be the best way to fabricate our idea because it would be less unwieldy.

Our main challenge was time. Our project changed numerous times over the course of the two weeks that was allotted to us, because of this it was very hard to know what we were working towards and if it would be completed. During the first week we spent lots of time attempting to make a coat and in the end, we came to the conclusion to not use the structure of the coat. During our process, we spent lots of time waiting , the electronics to come and in the final presentation it will only be a demo version of it and other large cuts were being done on the laser cutter and we had to wait for long periods of time.

The first iteration was the original jacket that we made. We traced a jacket and cut the pieces out of paper and taped it all together.  We took the pieces and used them as templates to cut the fabric out. After we cut all the pieces  we realized that we needed to have made the measurements more precise and leave space for the seams because it was way too small.

For the second iteration we got rid of the coat structure completely and began working on the collar design. We modeled pieces on Rhino and laser cut them attaching them with duct tape to get the flexible shape. We added in two holes at the sides as well, to connect the collar to the user.

For the final iteration we reprinted the pieces out of cardboard. We also cut the felt and cotton in the laser cutter and then attached the cardboard pieces to the fel with hot glue. After we sewed the pieces all together.