For one of my classes, we were asked to make a tutorial that had a slightly pointless nature to it. Deciding to go in a direction that was highly saturated in the absurd, I created “The Smuggie”, a tweeting Snuggie. Check out how to make one in 12 fairly simple steps over at Instructables. Or, read about it elsewhere on the interwebz: The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Switched, Unplggd.
The Smuggie: Tweet straight from your Snuggie – More DIY How To Projects
Snoozy the Sloth is a plush toy with a respiratory system. He sleeps while clinging onto a user, allowing them to feel both the contraction and expansion of his chest, as well exhaling of air from his mouth. The main concept behind snoozy is to create an intimate, yet passive, toy interaction that relaxes and comforts a user, through the tactile experience of steady breathing patterns. Creating a system that was battery powered, and used actual air flow rather than simply faking chest movemment with a motorized system, were of main importance. Snoozy’s main internals consist:
The circuit uses 2 TIP102 transistors to seperate the 9v going to the Arduino, and 12v going to the motors and solenoid valve. The pumps, each located in one of his legs, push air into the latex glove until it’s fully contracted. The motors then shut off, and the air is released through by solenoid valve located in his head. An located in the Snoozy’s chest, fades in and out in accordance with his breathing. The pumps seemed a bit loud at first, however the majority of user testers (aged 18-30) seemed to not mind the noise. I’m still in the process of looking for a quieter alternative (an important concern for younger users), with enough pressure to fill the latex lung.
Components
Main Circuit
“Snoozy The Sloth” Video
I created this toy for Yury Gitman’s “Making Toys” class at Parsons The New School For Design
A few of the write-ups Snoozy has received: