StudyByte - Delayed Gratification and Positive Reinforcement for Better Studying Habits Utilizing LED Lights

Students struggle to feel motivated to study; students need a motivator to accomplish daunting tasks. Our solution is StudyByte, a study snack machine that provides snacks after pushing one of three buttons. One button will give the snacks after 15 minutes, the next after 30 minutes, and the last after 1 hour. The idea is that the machine will track how long you should be studying before you can take a break. The user knows to take a break when the hinge connected to a motor opens up. The hinge will remain open for a short duration in which the user will have access to snacks, hence the delayed gratification aspect of our project. After a short duration the hinge connected to the motor will close, removing access to the snacks within StudyByte. Feedback is given by a light that is activated when the user pushes one of the buttons. There are three lights, one lights green for the shortest delay, one lights yellow for the middle delay, and one lights red for the longest delay.

1. Arduino
2. Servo Motor
3. Wires
4. LED's
5. Buttons
6. Wires
7. Bread board
8. Cardboard
9. Wood
10. Tape
11. Scissors
12. CNC machine
13. Candy
14. Resistors

Our first step in the design process was to do research on calm technology and how it is utilized to improve users day to day. I was really inspired by the calm technology presented by my teacher, specifically the “Little Signals” technology. We wanted to create something that would sit in the background, not demand attention, and not disrupt the environment.

Our next step was to identify the tools we had. We looked through our teacher's resources and considered what was possible given the tools and sensor we had. The motor and lights were especially appealing because it experimented with motion and as interaction designers using the motor inspired imagination.

My partner and I began ideating ideas of what we could do with the motor and we looked into our own personal struggles to see if there was a problem we could address. One problem that stood out was the struggle to remain focused on our studies. We wanted to create a solution that would utilize delay gratification and positive reinforcement to motivate us to continue to study. It had to be a solution that sat in the background and didn’t demand our attention so that we could continue with our studies unbothered. As a team, we sketched out two different solutions for a gumball-like machine, one with a timer and one without one. We thought the best way to pinpoint a solution would be to do A/B testing. We asked a total of 12 people which design they preferred and which one emulated calm technology. The results were 10 to 2 for people preferring the design without a timer because the timer would distract them while they tried to study. Instead we used LED lights to glow when a button was pushed for feedback. Once we had a solid idea of what we wanted to prototype this is the step where we started to deviate as a team.

I focused more on the coding and circuitry of the device, while my partner focused more on the enclosure and soldering of the device. My next step included understanding the coding behind the motor used. I researched online projects that had already been completed using our specific motor and looked at resources that provided code for the motor used. I took coding our prototype step by step, I first got the motor to work using the code I found online, I then used my teachers lessons to understand the coding behind the lights and the buttons. Throughout each step of the process I had to look up the specific circuitry for each component to work. Getting each component to work individually was easy to do, the hard part was figuring out how to make all the components (lights, buttons, and motor) work together in harmony. I was able to figure out the majority of the coding and circuitry by myself using the resources I found, but when I ran into roadblocks I asked ChatGPT to help identify the error and offer potential solutions. I was able to figure out how to code the machine in a way where everything worked together in harmony which led to my next step of playing around with the delays to ensure that the hinge for the door opened only after a certain time and only remained opened for a certain time. I had to repeat this step two times to make all three buttons have different delays for the hinge on the door to open.

Once I finished the coding and circuitry I handed the project over to my partner where he created our enclosure using illustrator, box.com, and the CNC machine. He got the model from box.com and made edits in illustrator. The CNC machine was used to cut out the wood we needed for the enclosure. He soldered the buttons and lights with the wires that were put into the breadboard. Together we taped up the enclosure, made the hinge connected to the motor, and the front piece that would hold the snacks using scissors and tape.

The end result of our project was a fully functional prototype that held snacks, dispensed snacks after pressing one of three buttons, and waiting for a delayed period. Lessons I learned from this project included knowing how to troubleshoot problems that are faced when trying to make each component work together in harmony, both in the physical and digital realms. I also learned the importance of calm technology and how a machine can sit in a space as part of the environment rather than against the environment it sits in. I also learned the value in team projects, as we were able to divide tasks and create a solution that exceeded our expectations. For future steps on this project I would consider putting more time into the enclosure to look more polished. Our prototype is taped up, made from a mismatch of material, and while functional doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. Another issue we would like to address in the future is the light circuitry for the yellow button. When I first made the prototype it worked, but later on the light stopped working. The code is correct and the circuitry looks to be stable so the problem may be in the light running out of power, however further investigation will have to be made in order to deduce the problem. The other two lights worked perfectly fine and I believe showcased an excellent way of emulating feedback using glowing lights without demanding attention.