duration

5 weeks

“sip” smart tumbler

design goals

Help people drink the average amount of water needed in a day. Design a water bottle that indicates when to drink and refill water to help user consistently drink water throughout the day. Create a desire to stay hydrated through bright colors and easy interaction.

skills

concept development

Arduino coding

product visualization

structure + package design

project intent

Create an electronic device through Arduino coding and circuit building with user input resulting in the devices output. Better an existing everyday object with an interactive element.

research

tumbler design

package design

why it’s important to stay hydrated

Humans can’t survive without water, but we can get by with less than we need to drink. In fact most people don’t consume the proper amount of water needed daily.

The Institute of Medicine recommends the average fluid intake for men to be 13 cups (about 3 liters) a day, and for women, 9 cups (just over 2 liters).

According to the USDA, the average amount of water a person drinks a day is 3.9 cups.

From the men and women water intake recommendations, the average person is drinking at least 5 liters less water than what they should be daily.

According to UC Davis Health, water intake is needed for many of our body’s functions like, bringing nutrients to cells, getting rid of wastes, protecting joints and health, and maintaining body temperature. Water is the best choice compared to all other drink options, which can be high in simple sugars and calories.

Staying hydrated is the key way to improving your lifestyle. Not only is water a vital nutrient, but drinking enough water has many benefits such as, boosting metabolism, maintaining healthy skin, enhancing exercise performance, even bettering your mood.

Water will always be the best option for anyone looking to better their health and life.

how can a basic drinking cup evolve to encourage a person drink a healthy amount of water every day?

smart features

When people get busy during the day something like drinking water is the last thing on their mind. The tumbler needs be the brain for hydration and do the part of remembering.

striving for health

Everyone should consume the proper amount of liquid per day. Water is the healthiest and easiest choice to help stay hydrated to help with multiple body functions.

engaging elements

An everyday product needs to keep the user engaged but cannot be distracting. The alert system would need to be a gentle reminder as well intriguing to grab the users attention in a non-flashy way.

gathering all the information and creating the smart elements

how do i create my smart features with Arduino?

In this 5 week studio class we were tasked with taking an everyday product and improving its use with Arduino coding.

weight

by tracking the amount of water in the tumbler with an Arduino sensor I can connect it to an LED to let the user know when to take a sip and when to refill the tumbler

sensor analysis

weight sensors are used for heavier, less sensitive measurements

pressure

pressure sensors are more precise and accurate with small changes

The pressure sensor made sense for the smart tumbler because of the slight changes of weight that happen when drinking water. For the elements to work the sensor needed to pick up precise measurments.

how it works

Coding flowchart

Using Arduino knowledge with the light and sensor in my circuit I created a flowchart to show how the LED interacts with the weight sensor to show the Arduino circuit and coding.

incorporating the coded elements into the product to create the smart tumbler

form and light exploration

Since the tumbler would have LED light elements I decided to keep the form simple and the color neutral.

1.

because of the internals, there were some restrictions on the design

The cup should stay upright to not jostle the internals, so it had to have a straw to limit tipping

2.

The Arduino pieces have to be at the bottom because the pressure sensor needs to be under the water well.

the bottom base led to the wireless charger concept

The wireless charger makes it easy on the user to keep the tumbler working. It can charge overnight and be ready for hydration help the next morning. The charger would plug in with the commonly used USB-C cord.

finalizing the design and moving into 3D

modeling with foam core to test proportions, form, and user interaction

refining the design with CAD modeling in Fusion360

In Fusion360 I added more refined elements like the ribbed outer form, straw ring, and threads.

More of the elements are separated here so I could access the internals. If this were to be produced the base would be permanently attached to the cup portion.

The tumbler holds 16 ounces of water in the stainless steel well.