Crash Detecting Helmet (using Cpx Board)

we will be creating a crash-detecting helmet powered by a cpx board.

• Adafruit Circuit Playground Express (CPX)
• Accelerometer (integrated in CPX)
• Bicycle helmet
• USB cable for CPX
• Battery pack for CPX
• tape
• Hot glue gun or strong adhesive

In the early stages, I decided to have two designs one for an American football helmet and one for a bicycle helmet. I decided on the latter option as it was easier for my time frame and less crucial that I get all of the calculations perfectly correct.

• Mount the CPX Board:
• Find a suitable spot inside the helmet to place the CPX board, ensuring it won't interfere with wearing the helmet.
• Use hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro) or hot glue to secure the CPX board inside the helmet.

Connect the Battery Pack:

• Attach the battery pack to the CPX and secure it inside the helmet.
• Ensure the battery pack is firmly attached and does not move around.

• Open Arduino IDE or Mu Editor.
• I used the Make Code Adafruit code editor
• main points needed
• calibrate accelerometer, 10000 mg= 1 g
• calculate the force needed for a concussion
• next, i calculated the force needed to cause concussion (100 g) create the lighting on the board with a concution being fully red and each of the lowerstages being one pixle less red
• then for each of the lower stages create the force needed to cross the threshold. this can be kind of random but still needs to be estimated.

• Connect the CPX board to your computer using the USB cable and upload the code

• Wear the helmet and simulate different impacts by tapping it lightly and then harder.
• Observe the NeoPixels on the CPX board to ensure they light up when a significant force is detected.

• If needed, adjust the force threshold in the code
• Modify the NeoPixel response or add other responses (e.g., sound) based on your preferences.

• Add a Buzzer:
• Connect a small buzzer to one of the CPX's output pins and modify the code to produce a sound when a force is detected.