[[!meta title="Interactive Punching Bag"]]

I worked as part of a group on building an interactive punching bag over a
summer holiday.

The bag is wrapped in an interactive layer: an 8 X 19 grid of surface- mounted
impact sensors (membrane switches), interleaved with a 9 X 20 grid of
tri-color, common-cathode LEDs driven by 8-digit LED drivers, and 2
surface-mounted accelerometers, at the rear of the bag, one at the mid-point,
one at the base.

The LEDs are embedded in a foam layer, which also protects the wiring and
solder joints. The sensor grid is controlled by one Arduino Mega 2560, which
also receives input from the accelerometers, and the LED grid is controlled by
another. The Arduinos are connected by USB to a wall-mounted PC with a touch-
screen display. Speakers mounted on the bag are connected by audio cable to the
PC.

<video width="100%" controls>
    <source src="punchingbag.mp4" type="video/mp4">
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</video>

The [source code](https://git.cbaines.net/punchingbag/) is available.

## Development Photos

[[!album
    sort="path"
]]