Has Your College Kid Eaten Lunch Today? Eez Clock Will Let You Know!
It's probably the biggest cliché—and the biggest truth—that a long-distant parent wants to know if their kid has eaten, if she's home or at work, and basically if they're all okay.
First-year student Smruti Adya's clever Arduino-based invention—the Eez Clock—solves the problem by notifying the concerned parent about the general whereabouts of their distant child and whether that child has eaten all the meals for the day. And generously, the designer has published a tutorial on Instructables.com so that you can make one for you and your own mom!
[Just in! Eez Clock has won a Second Prize in Instructable's IoT Builders' Contest. Congrats Smruti!]
There are two different indicators on the device: The "clock hand" and the strip of LEDs. Using the location data from the child’s smartphone, EEZ turns its clock hand to one of three positions: Home, School or Elsewhere. (These labels can be customized depending on the user’s frequented locations.) The three LEDs on the clock hand—representing the three meals of the day—light up based on buttons pressed by the child on their phone. "At the end of the day," Smruti offers, "if all three lights are on, the parent will be relieved and happy to know that their kid has eaten. Based on my personal experience, this would come as quite a comfort!" At midnight, the device automatically resets, and turns the lights off.
"For over 5 years, I remember having the same conversation with my mom over and over again. Everyday, at lunch time. It was a 15-second phone call: (Mom:) Have you eaten? (Me:) Yes mom. (Mom:) Where are you now? (Me:) I am in school, working. (Mom:) Okay, bye. (Me:) Bye"
Eez works with Adafruit’s Feather Huzzah Wifi board, in conjunction with If This Then That (IFTTT) and Adafruit IO (a platform to create simple Internet of Things devices). Location-based applets on IFTTT send data to a feed on AIO, based on where the user is, and DO buttons on the user’s phone can be triggered manually each time s/he has a meal,—which is sent to another feed on AIO. These feeds communicate with the Huzzah board, and cause either a servo to move to the appropriate location, moving the hand, or the relevant LED to light up.
Smruti adds, "I wanted to create the body of this clock using materials that were available to me—concrete and wood—but the shape and form can be easily made depending on the user’s preference." Wanna make your own (for you and your mom)? View full tutorial here!