Introduction: Heartbeat Sensor

I made a heart-shaped heartrate simulator with brass and Arduino boards. The project is referenced from Jiri Praus' project: https://www.instructables.com/Beating-LED-Heart/

Supplies

  • 0.08 mm brass wire
  • 1 mm brass wire
  • Arduino Nano
  • Heartrate sensor
  • Heart-shaped 3D model (3D printed)
  • Soldering paste
  • Solder
  • NeoPixel LEDs (9)

Step 1: LED Inner Heart Making

Steps:

  1. Print out the template and cover the red spots with double-sided tape.
  2. Place the RGB LEDs on the red spots on the template upside down. The four leads should point toward you. Mark the GROUND and VCC pins to make sure you solder them correctly. Face the GROUND pin to the outer ring of the heart.
  3. Bend and solder the outer ring of the heart to the GROUND pins of the LEDs.
  4. Bend and solder the heart's inner ring to the LEDs' VCC pins.
  5. Connect LEDs into the chain - Each LED has DATA-IN and DATA-OUT pin. Connect the first LED data-out pin to the next LED data-in pin to create a chain controlled with just one wire. Use short wires between each of the LEDs. The data-in pin is located on the same side as GROUND.
  6. Clean up the heart with some alcohol.


Step 2: Outer Heart Shell

Solder the 1mm brass wires. Use double-sided tape on the 3D heart model to help the wire pieces stay in place while soldering.

Step 3: Create the Circuit

Connect the Nano board and the heart rate sensor according to the ports. After finishing, connect the board to the LED inner part.

Step 4: Installing the Components Together

After finishing connecting the boards and the LEDs, solder the inner heart, the board, and the outer shell together to create the heart!