Every morning, before deciding what to wear, I open my front door and poke out my head to gauge what the temperature is like. (I live in Boulder, Colorado, so a sunny day might well be cold, and a Winter's day might be middle-of-Spring hot).

Because I'm not fully outside, I almost always call it wrong, and end up shivering or sweating on my way to campus. So I decided to make a simple thermometer in the form of three lights that I can hang outside. For Spring, the emerald lightboard comes on if it's comfortable. Otherwise, the ruby light comes on if it's hot, and the diamond if it's cold.

As the temperature changes from hot to cool, the corresponding lightboards turn on! Sweet eh?

I can easily reset it at the beginning of each season, by lifting the bottom left corner, which activates the tilt switch.



This kit contains everything you need to build a simple, ambient temperature sensing project.
Each kit contains:
 
*denim color/pattern may vary depending on supplies  
 
You'll also need
  • a needle
  • some tape (for insulation)
  • fabric glue (to prevent thread unravelling)
  • a pair of scissors


Design

Place your components on the fabric, and decide how to sew them together with the fewest number of thread crossings. In this project, the battery holder and learning sensor are on the wrong side of the fabric.
Flip the learning sensor to get an idea of which pins go where.




Battery holder

The battery holder will come unassembled (unless you specify otherwise at our store).
Follow these directions to assemble your holder.



Here is a sketch of the design.

  • black for minus (-)
  • orange for the ruby lightboard
  • green for the emerald lightboard
  • gray for the diamond lightboard
  • purple for the tilt switch (calibration)
  • red for power (+)



And this is a summary of the sewing steps

  1. Sew the "+" hole on the diamond lightboard to the "L" on the learning sensor.
  2. Then the emerald light to the "M" hole.
  3. Next the ruby lights to the "H" hole.
  4. Sew the minus connections of every component together.
  5. Attach the tilt switch to the learning sensor.
  6. Connect battery power (+) to the learning sensor.



More details about the learning sensor.




1. Diamond lightboard (gray wire)

Secure the "+" connection of the diamond lightboard and connect it to the "L" hole of the learning sensor. Remember, this example has the learning sensor on the flip side.

This is what the connection looks like from the flip side.
 
 
 
2 & 3. Emerald and Ruby lightboards (green and orange wires)

Do the same for the emerald and ruby lightboards, connecting them to the "M" and "H" holes on the learning sensor respectively.

You might have to cross some wires (marked in yellow). Make note of these points... you'll need to insulate these with tape or fabric paint.

 
 
 
4. Minus (black wire)

Sew the minus tab on the battery holder and connect it to the minus connections of the 3 lightbords, learning sensor, and tilt switch (silver bead).

Here's the second wire crossing. This time it's the minus wire.

 
 
 
5. Tilt switch (purple wire)

Now connect the copper bead on the tilt switch to the "C" hole on the learning sensor.

Be sure to orient the tilt switch copper-side-up so that it stays off by default.

 
 
 
5. Power (red wire)

Now connect the "+" tab on the battery holder to the "+" hole on the learning sensor.

We have yet another crossing... that makes 3.


7. Protection and isolation

Add a bit of fabric glue to all the end knots. Wait till it dries.

This design had three points where wires crossed. Use tape or fabric paint to keep them apart so they no longer touch each other.

Insert the battery "+" side up.


It works! Turn on and calibrate

When the learning sensor is turned on for the first time, any lightboard may be randomly lit, depending on the temperature. In this example case it was the emerald lightboard.

Turn up the corner of fabric - this flips the tilt switch and recalibrates your sensor. All three lights will start flashing. When you're done, only the emerald will stay on.



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