ALLAY
IMPULSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
PROJECT TYPE
Independent, 2018
TOOLS
CAD|3D-Printing|Microcontrollers
PROBLEM
Compulsive checking behaviors disrupt personal and professional life.
ALLAY is a system designed to manage dilatory ritualized/compulsive checking behavior. Doubts surrounding the occurrence of such behavior can be destructive; a mid-commute impulse to return home and glance at the stovetop, windows, and faucet again has real consequences.
Allay memorializes action via a series of nodes activated by touch. After a check is performed, its corresponding node logs the event. Once all checks have been performed, a text message confirmation is pushed to the user’s phone for reference in the event of an impulse.
This flexible, low-cost system is suited for applications in the home where direct IoT connectivity is not convenient and for those without the knowledge, desire, or ability to invest in such connectivity.
HOW IT WORKS
Touching a node signals a check has been performed.
Receiver/ESP8266 processing unit
The notification
“....did I actually turn off the stove? I had better go back and check.”
Each Allay node contains a wireless radio transmitter. The enclosure was 3D printed in flexible resin, allowing for seamless internal button depression.
Users actions are logged and interpreted by a microcontroller via a momentary RF receiver. Once every node has been contemporaneously activated, the microcontroller sends confirmation via text.
Unpainted, the button press mechanism can be seen through the plastic.
The mechanism
The internal chamber was designed to accept two transmitter orientations such that >1 frequency may be sent with a 4-button fob.
CAD drawing and render