Safety Sensor Sleeve

thingiverse

This wearable safety device sleeve is a fusion design solution with multiple applications, including safety. It uses input optic cables running through lattice tunnels and output cables emerging in the middle to detect arm bending and 3D model the arm using machine learning and neural networks. As you bend your arm, parts of it push against the sleeve, causing more light to be received from one cable to another through frustrated total internal reflection, which occurs when the cables are close to parallel. With this basic understanding, I'll explain how it applies to a wearable safety device. A person can program a specific arm movement pattern into a signal that connects with Bluetooth to their phone, then sends their location to the police through a simple app. This allows for a subtle way to call for help by bending your arm in a specific pattern without alerting an aggressor. The device is comfortable and can be hidden under a shirt, kept on throughout the day or simply slid on during commutes. This design is safer than others because it doesn't reveal that you're signaling for help, unlike pulling out a phone or wearing a wristband. To assemble the sleeve, print one center STL file and two outside STL files, then follow post-printing instructions to put them together. I included an image with blue light illustrating how this technology works for a block, which is a different design from my colleague Patricia A. Xu's proof-of-concept. This sensor technology has been tested in our lab and shows great promise for various applications, including safety, physical therapy, virtual reality, and more.