SHIFT Learning by Design conscious breathing system

This paragraph appears in search results and previews for this page. In three to five sentences, summarize the whole project from background to result: what you designed, for whom, where and when, why it matters, and how it turned out. Write this last. It should make sense to someone who has never heard of your project, your client, or Humboldt County.

Describe the background of the project, covering who, what, when, why, and where: the client, the site, the course (Engr205 Introduction to Design at Cal Poly Humboldt), the semester, and your team. This page will be read by people around the world and in the future, so give enough context that a stranger understands it. Refer to your images in the text, e.g., Figure 1 shows the site before the project.

Images uploaded to Appropedia must be free to share and uniquely named. Start each file name with your project name, e.g., CCAT_compost_bin_background.jpg. Use File:Default.png as a placeholder until you have the real image. Give every image alt text (alt=) that describes it for readers using screen readers; the caption is what everyone reads, the alt text is what the image shows.

The objective of this project is to design, build, and test a... Write this so that a reader would know when the project is complete. You will refine this statement throughout the semester.

This section outlines the various feedback from the client for the Conscious Breathing System, such as size, weight, color, safety, etc., and how important they are to the project.

The specifications for this project, which denote criteria that are fixed, include the following:

• Color - Bright primary colors.
• Size - Needs to fit in an 8 x 8 footprint.
• Weight - less than 10 lbs.
• Construction - No sharp edges. Don't pinch fingers. Expands horizontally.
• Materials - No latex or nitrile; plastics are ok. Try to use sustainable materials.
• Ease of Use - Adults need to be able to teach kids how to use it.
• Lighting - Diffused central lighting, soft, with no reds or oranges. Able to be turned off.
• Auditory Feedback - Soft yoga-esque instructor voice counting or swooshing sounds. Able to be turned off.
• Loudness of the Device - Needs to be quiet. The mechanics of the device should not drown out the sounds that the device makes.
• Texture - Texture needs to be nice to handle.
• Ease of Cleaning - Needs to be easy to clean and disinfect.
• Portability - Needs to be held by kids for long periods of time. Needs to be easy to move around.

The considerations for this project, which denote things we need to keep in mind, include the following:

• The High Relative Humidity - How humidity will affect the device.
• How Children in the CDC Use It - If they play rough, we'll need a more robust design.
• Budget - Running out of available money.
• Material Availability - If we can get certain materials in time.

This section covers the criteria and their constraints for this project. Criteria are the basis for judging specific solutions; constraints are the limits each criterion must meet. Table 1 lists the criteria, constraints, and weights for this project.

Table 1: Criteria and constraints for the Conscious Breathing System

Criterion	Constraint	Weight (0–10, 10 highest)
Safety	Try to meet or exceed 16 CFR Part 1505.	10
Durability	Can survive being handled by children aged 2-7	7
Attractiveness	Needs to be something that kids are drawn to.	5
Enjoyment of Use	The device needs to be fun to use.	4
Cost	Keeping it under $400 from the client and $300 from us	?

The design will be used as a teaching tool in the CDC (Child Development Center) for teaching kids breathing techniques and how to perform them. The device needs to survive being handled by instructors and by kids in the CDC and be easily stored. Only one device will be produced for the CDC, and this page will outline our design and our process so that people can replicate it if they'd like.

This literature review is an annotated bibliography. Introduce it in one to two sentences that name the topics covered and why they matter for this project. Group entries under topic headings (Client first, then 4-12 topics relevant to your design, such as materials, similar projects, local climate, or user needs).

Minimum sources per team member: one peer-reviewed journal article, one book, and two credible web sources, plus the client sources your team needs. More credible sources are welcome.

Each entry has three parts:

1. The citation in ASCE format. Either place it inside a named footnote, as in the examples below, so it appears under References and can be reused elsewhere on the page with <ref name="Smith2020" />, or write it out in full at the start of the entry. Pick one approach and use it for the whole page.
2. Summary (two to three sentences): what the source is and what it says. Write it in your own words.
3. Relevance (one to two sentences): how it informs this design, e.g., a criterion, a constraint, an alternative, or a decision.

Aim for 75-150 words per entry. No plagiarism: summarize, do not copy. Quote sparingly and always in quotation marks with a citation.

Our main client and the person we are interfacing with is Jaelyn of the Child Development Center. She is looking at getting a device that is small and portable for adults to first demonstrate its operation and then for children to use afterwards to learn and practice breathing techniques. At this time she is open to the overall scope of the design, and so only time will tell which path we choose.

Client interview^[1]

Summary: We interviewed Jaelyn of the Child Development Center; she is the one who is interfacing with all the teams related to the CDC and giving them feedback. She gave us feedback on the overall scope of the design, its target audience, the size and form factor, its looks, the materials to be used, safety concerns, how to control the device, its sensory feedback, how it would be displayed and stored, its portability, how it would be used in the classroom, etc.

Relevance: This interview gave us the building blocks for where we should start with the design of the project, both in its form factor and looks as well as its operation.

Interview

Client website^[2]

Summary: Our main client, the Department of Child Development, who run the Child Development Center. It links to the different degrees that Cal Poly Humboldt offers in the child development field, and also lists the faculty involved

Relevance: This website helps us understand the mission of our client, as well as informing us of who the main faculty members in charge of our direct client are.

Web

Since our project is a teaching aid, it's relevant to educate ourselves on how people learn.

How Learning Works^[3]

Summary: This book talks in depth about how people learn and how to apply that to improve one's own teaching abilities, mainly in a classroom setting. The book's seven principles involve a student's prior knowledge, motivation, skills, and goals, among others.

Relevance: To make a better teaching tool, it's important to learn what aspects affect learning so we know what is important and also what we can control and use to make a better teaching implement.

Book

Models for tangible interfaces for children.^[4]

Summary: This is a technical paper on how to make tangible user interfaces for children. It provides information on how to design user interfaces that are not only easy to use and engaging but also fun. It focuses on physical representations of digital content, such as museum displays.

Relevance: It's important to understand how to design something physical that can make information more tangible, and this paper highlights many different design philosophies and concepts that can help us improve our design.

Peer-reviewed journal

Since our project will be used by children, it's important to us that we make our project safe for children to handle and to use.

16 CFR Part 1505^[5]

Summary: This part of the Code of Federal Regulations establishes the standards for making electrical toys and other articles for children. It details the rules related to the mechanics, electrical systems, and operation of said devices.

Relevance: Part 1505 of the CFR can be helpful to know, as it outlines how implements for children should be made, and so, by educating ourselves on this section, we can make a safer device for individuals to use that will last.

Web

To help our engineering design process, we looked at other commercial and DIY examples of similar devices.

Hoberman Sphere^[6]

Summary: Hoberman spheres are devices that use linkage to make a ball grow from small to large and then back again.

Relevance: These linkage-based balls could help us design the expanding and contracting mechanisms.

Web

Breathing Ball^[7]

Summary: This is a light that changes color based on the breathing cycle selected to help aid in breathing exercises.

Relevance: These devices could help give us a blueprint to doing programmable, diffused lighting in our device.

Web

Moonbird^[8]

Summary: This company makes a device that you hold in one hand and then expands and contracts to assist in breathing exercises.

Relevance: This product gave us ideas for how to do expanding and contracting devices in a small form factor.

Web

Reflect Orb^[9]

Summary: This device is an orb that reads biofeedback from the finger sensors to help drive breathing exercises and how you respond to them.

Relevance: This device could give us a blueprint on how to do biofeedback integrated into the device itself.

Web

Expanding Lantern^[10]

Summary: This is just a simple expanding lantern that you might find at a home goods store that goes from a flat disk to a sphere when expanded.

Relevance: This could potentially help us create a product that expands and contracts from a two-dimensional disc to a three-dimensional sphere.

Web

Origami Lantern^[11]

Summary: This product is similar to the expanding lantern but goes from a flat disk to a cylinder.

Relevance: This product follows the same principles as the expanding lantern but could help us develop a folding accordion structure that also looks visually interesting.

Web

Buckliball^[12]

Summary: This device was created by the School of Engineering at MIT and involves a device that can switch between two distinct sizes by using the principle of buckling. The linkage in the device or the structures in the device buckle in on themselves, allowing the device to expand and contract to increase or decrease its size.

Relevance: This device has similar importance to the Hoberman sphere, but the principle in which it changes from one state to another is fundamentally different, and so it opens up avenues for similar devices that use the same principle.

Web

Hoberman Sphere Kit^[13]

Summary: This is a 3D printable Hoberman sphere made by printing different kit cards and then assembling them together to get a working Hoberman sphere.

Relevance: This 3D print could allow us to experiment with Hoberman spheres or to modify a Hoberman sphere to suit our purposes.

Web

Motorized Hoberman Sphere^[14]

Summary: This video shows a Hoberman sphere powered by a rotating stand that, as the sphere spins, uses the concept of angular momentum to mechanically expand in size and be controlled by the speed of the rotation.

Relevance: This video could give us ideas on how to make an expanding device that, instead of using linear motion or expansion of a sealed vessel, instead uses rotation.

Web

This project is electronics heavy, so knowing all of our options is an important part of the design process.

Practical Electronics for Inventors^[15]

Summary: This book is a general reference for electronics for creators. Things it includes include converting power supplies, different logic levels, motors and how to drive them, microcontroller, as well as much more. Particularly is contains physical circuit examples instead of just speaking on theory

Relevance: This book covers almost everything mechanics wise that will be required by the completed device. One specific important point is the comparison between a 5 V and 3.3 V microcontrollers, which is currently the most important distinction in the microcontroller selection phase. It gives examples including the different components we need, weighing the pro's and con's of each.

Book

Arduino Nano Family Overview^[16]

Summary: This Arduino support article compares eleven different boards that all have the Nano form factor. Importantly it sorts by operating voltage (5 V vs 3.3 V). It also describes the solder pads of each board, as well as flag pinout differences between the different boards that helps determine what breaks accessory compatibility between members.

Relevance: This article shows that the choices between the 5 V and 3.3 V boards all share the same footprint. This means that we can swap between different voltage boards without having to redesign the breadboard, or any holding apparatuses.

Online Documentation

Speed Differences Across Arduino Boards^[17]

Summary: This blog post is a benchmark of the performance metrics of 6 different Arduino boards, 4 of them being the possible nano boards we would use, and one of them being a larger board we may use for the controller board. The tests were an integer, floating-point, and pulse timing test.

Relevance: This test confirms that any of the candidate boards have enough speed for a breathing loop measured in seconds, which reinforces that the most important decision is the voltage of the board, along with the analog input amount, wireless capabilities (which we will need), and its general input output stability. However this is slightly counter productive as it does not lower the total amount of choices

Blog Post

The controls are similar to the rest of the electronics as we have a lot of options, but also, they are similar to the feedback as well meaning they must be intuitive.

Development Of A Cushion-Shaped Device^[18]

Summary: This journal describes a soft cushion with a motor-driven mechanism which expands and contracts at a set rhythm while it is held against the users body. In the trials the testers synced their breathing to the device without being instructed to, and it was stated that the largest relaxation and subsequence post-break performance gains were from the slowest rhythm tested (8 breaths per minute)

Relevance: This is the closest example that was able to be found of a motor-driven object that expand and contracts to guide the user in breathing rhythms. While this may seem like it would be under the examples, the actual underlying technology behind this is a good proof of concept of specifically what would be required for the mechanical expansion criteria we will be shooting for

Peer-reviewed journal

Arduino Cookbook^[19]

Summary: This handbook is a recipe-style reference for different Arduino boards, providing pre tested code on how to read potentiometers and encoders, driving servers and steppers, and much more. Importantly it includes how to control addressable LEDs, playing audio, and timing events without blocking the program.

Relevance: This handbook provides a lot of the building blocks for the firmware including: the timed inhale/exhale loop, the dial-to-seconds mapping, running the light ring and actuator together on one board, and much more. Currently as we do not know the exact direction we will take, it will come in handy later with more examples that are not obvious right now.

Handbook

Making Things Move^[20]

Summary: This handbook is an introduction to mechanisms for people who are not specialists in the field. This includes covering DC gearmotors, servos, steppers, linkages, and cams, as well with information on how to choose an actuator based on the motion, force, and speed needed. Plenty of other things are also covered, some not available in the Arduino cookbook hence the inclusion of both of them.

Relevance: This project requires a few different electronic components, with a lot of different options. Due to this the more options we can find with high quality documentation the easier it would be to select the best option. This along side the Arduino cookbook should be able to aid us on almost every electronics decision we need to make.

Handbook

Since this is a teaching device, making sure that the feedback is done well is important so the users can understand what the device is teaching.

Stimuli Used By Existing Breathing Devices^[21]

Summary: This journal is a systematic review of 46 commercial and research level breathing or medication devices. It catalogs the 24 different kinds of cues they use, some of them including light, simple tones, and vibrations. Those specifically were the most common, but others were also included. The devices success seems to have been proven to be heavily dependent on which cue the users prefer. Two of the authors work for Moonbird, being one of the examples provided earlier.

Relevance: This journal confirms that light and sound are the standard feedback options for breathing devices. This ends up supporting the use of the light ring and the toggleable audio from the original criteria. It also suggests that we should confirm the preferences of the client when it comes to what types of queues they want from the device.

Peer-reviewed journal

NeoPixel Logic Levels^[22]

Summary: This learning guide for the WS2812 addressable LED explains that the LED is a 5 V part, but a 3.3 V microcontroller signal often works, but is outside of the LED's specification. It is also stated that in this case, a level shifter is useful to make the system more reliable with the 3.3 V board.

Relevance: This learning guide drives the drives the choice of a 5 V board, such as the ones found above in the electronics section. If we go with one of the more powerful Nano boards that are 3.3 V, it also informed us that a level shifter is recommended in that case.

Manufacture Learning Guide

DFPlayer Mini audio module^[23]

Summary: This manufacturer documentation wiki is for a small MP3 player module called the DFPlayer. It stores sound bytes on a micro SD card, playing them on command from a microcontroller over a serial connection. It includes volume control and also a busy signal that reports when a sound byte has finished playing. It is a simpler alternative to an IC2 DAC, which has more complex capabilities, such as loading sounds on the fly.

Relevance: This manufacturer documentation wiki shows that the audio cues that we plan to implement can be handled by a separate module on any board. This is important as not all boards come with an IC2 module. It also shows that using the DFPlayer would make the quite mode trivial, as all you would have to do is turn off the DFPlayer.

Manufacture Product Wiki

Within the device, the controls will include different breathing techniques that teach children and adults alike.

Breathing Practice for Stress and Anxiety Reduction^[24]

Summary: Within this study, researchers want to focus on different breathing techniques being effective on mental health including anxiety and stress within the groups of participants. In the results of the study, most participants likely chose slow, calm breathing techniques, but some groups with the range of different participles used slow breathing within stress/anxiety benefit.

Relevance: This study shows how a range of individuals from different age groups faced different situations with similar stress from these situations. With the derive, it will have common breathing techniques used in a range of individuals.

Peer-reviewed journal

Just Breathe: Using Breath work for Wellbeing^[25]

Summary: This website describes how common breathing techniques help for well-being as mental health, and manage chronic lung diseases. Specifically, these breathing techniques include 4-7-8, Alternate Nostril, Bumblebee, and box breathing, to its level of effectiveness within certain situations, and overall, how to practice a technique.

Relevance: This website articles show how certain breathing exercises and techniques are effective within specific situations. Relating into the project, these breathing techniques will be shown by warm lighting and calm sound to teach the individual about breathing techniques.

Website

As a reach goal of this project, this device will include biofeedback senor to replicate the individual's breathing pattern.

Biofeedback^[26]

Summary: In this website, it shows different type of biofeedback and how these devices work onto the body. Mainly, in the website, it describe how an device could record breathing patterns and rate from placing sensor onto the one's chest, and with a wearable device, it mainly used a measuring pad which is similar to medical senors.

Relevance: This website detail the base of biofeedback works and types that are commonly used to record breathing pattern. In this project, it will focus wearable biofeedback device toward the individual.

Website

A wearable respiratory biofeedback system based on generalized body sensor network^[27]

Summary: In this study, the researchers detail the effectiveness of biofeedback devices and platforms within their component include communication onto other device, type of sensor interfaces, and effectiveness of recording breathing pattern and rates. The researchers focus body sensor networks devices include heart rate monitor and reparation rhythm monitor to record different type of breathing styles. Within the result of this study, researchers discovered that these devices accurately record participants' breathing which improve the development of low-cost device within community.

Relevance: From this study, it expand on the used of biofeedback to focus on component that record the individual's breathing patterns to heart rate. In the device, it will include some type of sensors into the individual. And add a type of communication into the stand and device to replicate breathing.

Peer-reviewed journal

Short title of the source^[4]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Book

Replace "First topic" with a descriptive heading. Open with one sentence that says why this topic matters to the project.

Toy Safety Business Guidance^[28]

Summary: Section 106 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) is

Relevance: ...

Website

Anlysis on the Visual and Physical Information of Materials in Toys^[29]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Book

Replace "First topic" with a descriptive heading. Open with one sentence that says why this topic matters to the project.

Short title of the source^[5]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Peer-reviewed journal

Short title of the source^[4]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Book

Replace "First topic" with a descriptive heading. Open with one sentence that says why this topic matters to the project.

Short title of the source^[5]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Peer-reviewed journal

Short title of the source^[4]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Book

<ref name="M.A.B.Z. Co. 2026" />.

• Mainly for children but also used by adults to demonstrate its function.
• Needs to be small and light for children to hold and durable if dropped.
• It needs to look inviting and fun with bright primary colors.
• Must be soft with no hard edges.
• Has to have analog controls to control the sensory feedback and the breathing technique used, and also if there is feedback from the device to the user to see if they are matching the technique.
• Must have sensory feedback such as lights and sounds, but not too much to overwhelm the children.
• Must have a stand for display purposes and also for charging.

This section covers various alternative solutions to making a "Conscious Breathing System". I.E., solutions to representing breathing cycles in different ways.

Introduce this section in one to two sentences specific to your project.

Define each criterion from Table 1 as it is used to judge the alternatives. These are definitions, not constraints. For example, the constraint on cost is the budget, but cost might be defined as the cost of materials only, or as materials plus operation and maintenance. If your criteria changed, update Table 1 so the two match.

Cost

Definition...

Taste

Definition...

Explain the decision process your team used (e.g., decision matrix, Pugh chart). First person is appropriate here. Refer to the table, e.g., Table 2 summarizes the decision matrix.

Table 2: Decision matrix. Scores are 0-10; weighted totals are the sum of weight × score.

Criterion	Weight	Alternative A	Alternative B	Alternative C
Cost	10	7	5	9
Taste	7	8	9	4
Weighted total		126	113	118

Name the chosen solution and justify it with reference to the criteria and Table 2.

Show your most impactful prototypes from earliest to final. Include at least one prototype for function (does it work? e.g., testing a mechanism, material, or dimension) and at least one prototype for desire (will people want to use it? e.g., a mockup shown to the client or users for feedback). Each caption should say what the prototype is, whether it tested function or desire, and what you learned from it. Early sketches, failed attempts, and photos of materials and hands at work all help tell the story.

• 
  Prototype for desire: cardboard mockup of ... shown to the client. We learned that ...
• 
  Prototype for function: test of ... We learned that ...

Describe the final design, starting with the big picture and then going into detail. Use labeled images and refer to them in the text. This is usually a big section.

• 
  CAD drawing of ... by Yourname1.
• 
  Drawing of ... by Yourname2.

Give a complete description of how the final design is built, with lots of images, so someone else could replicate it. Use one {{Step}} per step. This is much easier to write as descriptive (what you did) instead of prescriptive (what another person should do), but you can take either approach.

Shown below is the timeline that our team followed for the project.

Table 3: Project timeline.

Date	Description	Status
Week 6	Finish the timeline, problem formulation, rapid prototyping, and finalize the scope of the project	Complete
Week 7	Finish any observations and interviews and then finish the brainstorming, designing, and planning of the prototype and then order any necessary parts	In progress
Week 8	Finish an initial prototype and then get feedback	Not started
Week 9	Finish a second prototype and then get feedback	Not started
Week 10	Have a meeting to discuss the prototypes and then finish the video story boarding, the presentation, and then decide on the scope of the final version	Not started
Week 11	Finish the design of the final version	Not started
Week 12	Get the final presentation ready, and wrap up any designing or building that needs to take place	Not started
Week 13	Practice the presentation and finish up any final modifications (90% of project done)	Not started
Week 14	Everything should be wrapped up by this point (preferably)	Not started
Week 15	Tie up any loose ends and then get our submission ready	Not started

Introduce the three kinds of cost below in one to two sentences.

Show the total human hours your team spent outside of class, grouped into categories (e.g., research, brainstorming, prototyping, construction, documentation). Three teammates working for one hour is three human hours.

Introduce the costs to build the design, including donations and reused materials. Note whether costs are actual or proposed. If replication would cost a different amount, say so.

Item	Amount	Cost per unit	Total
Thing - from the thing store — Purchased	3	USD 5.75	USD 17.25
Another thing - 3' x 2', yellow — Donated by ...	1	USD 0.00	USD 0.00
PrintGrand total			USD 17.25EUR 14.84 <br />GBP 12.59 <br />CAD 21.39 <br />MXN 359.66 <br />INR 1,291.16 <br />

Introduce the ongoing costs in time and money, usually per year.

Table 4: Yearly maintenance cost.

Task	Frequency	Time per year (hours)	Cost per year (USD)
Example task	Monthly	2	0.00
Total		2	0.00

Introduce how to use the design, then give step-by-step instructions with labeled images. Use {{Step}} if the process has more than a few steps. A short video is a great addition:

Introduce this maintenance section. Answer these questions:

• Are there any needed actions for maintenance?
• How often?
• Who should perform maintenance?

This is when to maintain what. Please keep the format the same as it can be used to auto-populate maintenance tables.

Daily

• A daily task
• A daily task

Weekly

• a weekly task
• a weekly task

Monthly

• a monthly task
• a monthly task

Yearly

• a yearly task
• a yearly task

Every __ years

• task
• task

Give step-by-step maintenance instructions, using {{Step}} if helpful.

Describe how you tested the final design and what the results were. Compare the results to your criteria, e.g., in a table like Table 5.

Table 5: Final design performance against criteria.

Criterion	Constraint	Result	Met?
Cost	Less than or equal to $3 per ounce	$2.50 per ounce	Yes

Discuss what the testing results mean.

Discuss what your team learned and what you would do differently next time.

Discuss next steps for the project as it goes on into the future.

Cover basic operating problems only. For complex issues, the suggestion might be to contact ________.

Problem	Suggestion
Example issue	Example solution or suggestion
Does not turn on	Make sure it is plugged in.
Another issue	Etc.

Include an inspirational video for sharing.

Introduce the team and semester, e.g., This project was completed in SEMESTER YEAR by Team TEAMNAME:

• Lonny Grafman
• Emilio Velis
• One bullet for each team member, in the format [[User:Username|Full Name]].