Vani Mahajanam- Week 1

What are your first thoughts on the research projects that you have been assigned and your mentors?

My first thoughts on the research projects we've worked on so far have been very positive towards the following projects: the Simon Says Sparks Fun Kit project and the Tiny Watch. The Simon Says project was a good starter for deciphering the complexities of circuits, and how to understand them better. For example, I learned more about polarity within a LED bulb regarding the flat side (negative) and the non-flat side (positive), the purpose of resistors within a circuit, and how the breadboard's interior worked. The Tiny Watch project helped me learn how the components of a smart watch actually worked and how to replicate it. This was shown with the pulse oximeter, the accelerometer, and the pedometer. The pulse oximeter used red light to measure heart rate, which can be seen in any smart watch that measures BPM, the accelerometer showed graphs of the movement of the watch, and the pedometer measures steps based on it's movement, which can be connected to the accelerometer. In conclusion, I think that these projects were very fun, and not all that difficult, because the coding aspect of it was mostly ignored, and this made it easier to focus on the building of the circuit/watch parts. 

What are you most looking forward to for week 2?   

I am most looking forward to start coding next week, and I think this will really give me an understanding for the computer science and digital health crossover. I am also looking forward to adding more parts to the Tiny Watch, and see the properties of each new part we add. This is intriguing to me, as I loved seeing how the pulse oximeter, the accelerometer, and the pedometer worked, and I am ready to add more parts and seeing the effect of it. The Tiny Watch is already interesting on it's own, as seeing the similarities to my smart watch and the smart watch I'm making helps me realize that all the technology around me that I thought was nearly impossible to make, can be made with the right guidance, which will give more knowledge on what is being made.