Introduction: Arduino Powered Heated Glove Liners

Arduino Powered Heated Gloves

     This project is on how to make the world's smartest heated glove liners for extremely cold conditions like those in Minnesota or people who have Raynaud's syndrome(like me). These gloves will provided you with hours of comfortable temperature controlled warmth in even the coldest conditions. What makes them so special is that they have to two heating elements in each glove that are individually controlled by an Arduino pro mini. 


Step 1: What You Need

     This project will cost around 100 dollars give or take. Which is a great price compared to the ones you can buy for at least $200(and those ones are not even temperature controlled). Plus you get to make these ones, which is the fun part!

For this project you will need:
-Glove liners                                     $5-$20         Walmart or any sports store
-(5 Feet) 22 gauge copper wire    $7                 Ebay
-Ribbon wire(Thin Wire)                $5-$10         Online
-(2)9v Batteries                                $0-$3           Anywhere
-(2)9v Battery adapters                  $6                  Radio Shack
-(2)Arduino Pro Mini 328-5V/16MHz    $40       Sparkfun
-Velcro 1in by 5in                            $0-$5            Fabric store or from a kids watch
-(4)Lm335A sensors                     $6                  Sparkfun
-Shipping                                         $10
Total(Estimate)---------------------- $107            *Give or take a few bucks depending on what you already have.    

Tools Required/Suggested:
Soldering iron
Lead Solder
Pliers
Scissors
Utility knife
Thread and needle
Electrical tape
Duct tape probably (I use it in almost all my projects)
Helping Hand

Skills required:
Intermediate soldering skills
Basic sewing skills
Basic programming skills
Mechanical and creativity skills(trust me this project will not go perfect, so make this project your own.)

Step 2: Sewing in the Copper Wire

      For this step you will need to sew in the cooper wire in the two heating sections. Like shown in the picture.
**Heating sections
       The First heating section is the thumb, pointer finger, and the top inside of the hand and the second heating section is the middle finger through the pinky finger and the top outside of the hand.

Sewing order:
Section 1:
-Start at the top of the wrist on the inside of you arm or base of the glove
-Move up the top of the thumb
-Go to the bottom of the thumb
-Do the bottom of the pointer finger
-Do the top of the pointer finger
-Zig-Zag back to the base on the top inside part of the hand
Section 2:
-Start at the top of the wrist on the outside side of you arm or base of the glove(see Picture)
-Move up the top of the middle finger and repeat the same steps for section one just with the middle, ring, and pinky finger.
-Zig-Zag back to the starting point on the top outside part of the hand.

See the picture for more details


Tips(they are in order):
-Start the stitch by entering at the base of the glove(look at picture).
-End the stitch near the entrance point.
-Sew the wire WITH the glove on.(this prevents from the glove from being sewn together and sewn to tightly, which would tear the wire when you try the glove on for the first time.
-Keep the stitches close together to prevent the wire from bulging out when you move your hand(look at picture).
-Sew around the knuckles and joints so the wire does not break(look at picture)
-Do not take the glove off until you are done sewing.
-Try to keep the wire on the top layer of fabric so the wire does not touch your hand.
-When done sewing move your hand to make sure the wire is loose with the glove and is not making the glove any tighter on your hand.
-Tie off all 4 ends of the wire to the glove(meaning thread it through the fabric and then put it through the loop and pull the knot tight, not the wire in the glove any tighter.
-Leave around 7in on the end of the wires when you cut them.

Step 3: Making Room for the Battery

     For this step you will be making room for the battery.
First you will have to cut a slit about 1.5 in long in the first layer of fabric on the rim/wrist guard(?) part of the glove. See the picture.

     Now the next step is to sew in some Velcro on the borders of the slit to prevent the battery from falling out. Sewing Velcro is really tough, so use a small needle and maybe put some duct tape on your finger so it is less painful to push hard on the needle.

Step 4: Putting in the Temperature Sensors

    Now it is time to install the temperature sensors. You will need to install one temperature sensor on the inside of the glove on the lower part of your pointer finger. All you have to do is sew some thread around the wire while it is under the glove. I apologize. I switched to black thread so it would not be noticable but now you cannot see it in the picture. Sorry. The wire should lead to the bottom of the Rim/Wrist guard of the glove. Do the same with the the second temperature sensor, which will be placed in the same place just on the ring finger.

Step 5: Adding the Arduino and Installing the Electronics

    This step you will be soldering the wires into the Arduino. I no longer have any pictures to show you because my camera can't take close up picture in the crowded dark space of the glove so I apologize. That is what makes it the hardest step. It is a cramped working place. The arduino with be place on the bottom of the Rim/Wrist guard and can be inserted and removed through the battery slit.

   The only helpful thing I can tell you about this step is the pins to put the wires into.

temperature sensor 1 signal wire = pin 3          other pin on the senor go to the + and -
temperature sensor 2 signal wire = pin 5          (see picture)
heating element 1 = pin 6                                      other end of the wire goes to ground
heating element 2 = pin 9
(optional) heat adjusting button + = pin 4   other end goes to ground
(optional) heat adjusting button - = pin 7    other end goes to ground
Connect the battery to the power supply pins(add a On and Off switch if you want)

Sorry for the vague step

Step 6: Uploading the Code

Now all you have to do is access the arduino and upload the code with the FTDI Basic Breakout (5V).

You can write you own code, which I find to be the most fun part!

Step 7: Repeat

    Now all you have to do is make a second one and you are ready to go! :-D

Step 8: Contact, Questions, Comments

   Feel free to comment and contact me with any criticism or advice. Also if you decide to make you own code, please send it to me, I would love to see it and compare it to mine. If you do receive my code do not resist changing it and helping me improve it.

My email is Dannugeman@aol.com

Thanks for Reading,
Daniel Nugent

For more pictures you can check out my image library.

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