The Assistive Mat is a floor mat designed to help care for elders. Embedded with pressure sensors, when stepped on it sends a text message to let family members know when their elder loved one is up and may need some extra help getting around. It was created in Fall 2015.
Project Background
The project was designed for my 92-year-old grandfather who was transitioning from living independently to moving his life across the country to live with my family. He loved sitting on the couch, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper for hours.
My grandfather with my mom and cousin (in background) sitting on the couch.
After sitting for hours, when he got up to use the restroom or make food, he would become faint and fall down. In order to prevent this, my family members would hover around him and ask him if he needed help getting up. He hated being treated like a 3-year-old. So I decided to design something that could mediate this situation.
Initial system diagram of the Assistive Mat outline how it would work.
Sketch of how the mat would work with the materials and electrical components.
Since he would sit for long periods, I thought that placing a mat at his feet might help. I designed the mat using conductive tape to act as a pressure sensor which foam in between to break the circuit when no pressure was applied to the mat. When you stepped on the mat the the conductive tape would connect.
Connecting thing strips of conductive tape in rows to pieces of canvas.
Adhering a spongy material with holes to separate conductive tape and create cushion effect.
To trigger the text message, we used an Arduino Uno, radio frequency micro chip, and a GSM blutooth module. When the mat was stepped on it sent a text message to my grandpa’s care giver letting them know he “was on the move”.
Image of all of the electronic components of the project.
My grandpa testing the first prototype of the mat and his care giver receiving a text message: “Grandpa’s on the move!”
