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The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

Students create way to help others stay warm during winter months

” Christopher Campbell, Rashad Reynolds and William Schake are recent graduates from the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of Akron. They have created a jacket that will allow wearers to choose their preferred temperatures depending on the weather.”

Christopher Campbell, Rashad Reynolds and William Schake are recent graduates from the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of Akron. They have created a jacket that will allow wearers to choose their preferred temperatures depending on the weather.

The jacket is fitted with internal wiring, heating pads, temperature sensors and a microprocessor which can be attached to a Palm Treo cell phone via a custom built cable, says Campbell. The cell phone allows the user to set the desired temperature in the arms, back, and chest.

The jacket also reports the current temperature, the desired temperature, the outside air temperature and the remaining battery life back to the user in case an adjustment is necessary, says Campbell.

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The battery is a removable, rechargeable 12V lithium polymer battery source that will keep the jacket powered for two hours. Our calculations estimate that in sub-30 degree temperatures, the wearer can expect to see temperatures in the mid-60s to low-70s within the jacket, says Campbell.

As the outside air temperature decreases, the final temperature that the jacket is able to maintain also decreases, but in any case the jacket can make the user substantially warmer in even the coldest conditions.

There should be no concerns about the safety of the jacket when it gets wet.

The jacket is equipped with a fused wiring harness that will cut off power to the heating elements if water does manage to short the system, explains Campbell.

Like all senior design groups, Reynolds, Campbell and Schake received $100 from the Electrical Engineering Department for their project. They received the additional funding for the jacket from Gerbing Heated Clothing.

The making of the jacket took three semesters. The first semester’s focus was on the generation of the idea and the specifics. The second semester was the on paper design and also the software code was started. The final semester was the protype build, testing and demonstration, says Campbell.

Campbell believes that the hardest challenge to overcome was the communication between the cellular phone and the microprocessor in the jacket. He explained, The two pieces of electronics were never truly made to communicate so it was a big task for us to get them to talk to each other and send and receive the information that was necessary for our project to be successful.

Although it cost these three students roughly $600 to make a one-off design jacket, it is their hope that bulk manufacturing would possibly bring the cost down to approximately $100 per jacket. The jacket could come in different styles and sizes as long as it was fitted with the heating elements and other additional wiring, says Campbell.

Campbell explains, Our initial target audience would probably be specialized hobbyists such as those who participate in winter sports or people who attend cold outdoor weather sporting events such as late season football games.

He also thinks this jacket may sell to those who live in colder climates and have to do everyday outdoor chores that involve snow.

Campbell believes that this project has met and exceeded their expectations in a lot of ways.

We never anticipated the overwhelming support we have received by people who have seen the project and by the university in helping spread the word of our design, he says.

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