Goal
For a senior high school engineering capstone, our task was to determine an engineering solution and build from concept to prototype. Many of my friends have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which negatively affected their schooling. Some studies suggest that ADHD is linked to a dysfunction of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. The theory is there is a shortage of accessible dopamine in the brain which causes individuals with ADHD to continually search for ways to trigger a dopamine reaction.
A common strategy for individuals with ADHD is to “gamify” tasks. This allows boring or long-term tasks to have a dopamine reward which allows better focus. Another common tool for individuals with ADHD is the fidget cube. I thought to combine these two solutions to create an app that can track and measure the user’s fidgeting, task management, and provide dopamine rewards by caring for a cute avatar dog. I created a fidget cube that captures data from the user’s fidgeting and sends this information via Bluetooth to the user’s phone. The fidget cube was made up of two potentiometers and associated fidgets, a joystick, four buttons, a microphone, and a screen. These were connected to an Arduino Nano 33 BLE which transmitted information between the app and the cube.
The app was designed around managing a series of tasks and feeding a avatar dog, which I affectionately named Biscuit. Connected to a Google calendar, the user was able to schedule and write out tasks for the day. Based on the user’s needs, these tasks could repeat daily. When a task was finished, a dog bowl would be filled with food and make Biscuit happy. The food bowl would empty after a few minutes. If the food bowl was empty for a number of hours, Biscuit would become sad. Although never implemented, the idea of gaining points to spend on accessories, new pets, and fun features for the cube were discussed.
CAD Model of Cube
