CharmBits
Overview
CharmBits are module circuit wearables that educate children about circuit design and basic electronics.
This was a semester long project in the graduate-level Interactive Device Design course at UC Berkeley.
The Team
Doug Cook: Embedded Systems, Hardware
Elizabeth Lin: Interaction Design, iOS
Ian Shain: Mechanical Design, Hardware
Kiyana Salkeld: iOS, Project Management
User Research & Target Market
Competitive Analysis
There are many competitive products in the educational marketplace, such as littleBits, Goldieblocks, and Snap Circuits. CharmBits addresses a missing void, however, by teaching children about circuit composition while still providing for personal expression through wearable jewelry.
Use Cases


The various types of CharmBits. These will behave in different ways depending on the embedded sensors or hardware.
Physical Construction

The circuit board inside the FDM CharmBit base

A closeup of the spring-loaded pins used to establish the power and logic connections with the circuit board

Showing the electrical integration in the band. The outermost wires were used for power while the inner wires were used for CharmBit-to-CharmBit communication

One CharmBit clasping onto the band.
iPad Companion Application
The iPad app walks parents and children through interactive stories that teach electronic concepts and help debug problems along the way.
Possible Improvements
We scoped this project to be wearable, which dictated that our modules be quite small. Fitting all the hardware into these small modules proved quite challenging. We also would have liked to mold our parts, as 3D printing our parts led to more brittle and less attractive pieces. We would have also liked to create a flexible PCB to mount into our band, as the wires created a bulky and rigid band.