Background

Monitoring our health is a way to learn about our body, and to ensure that we remain in good overall physical health and are able to diagnose any emerging health issues in good time. Vital signs that can easily be monitored include: a weighing scale for body mass, a stadiometer for height, a blood pressure gauge, heart rate monitor, and blood oxygen levels device. The data that are monitored are used to inform us and our doctors about our general health, fitness, physical development, response to medical treatment, and so forth; the purpose is to encourage good healthy outcomes and well-being.
A smart electronic device is a useful instrument, machine, or gadget that is controlled by electronic circuitry microcontroller boards, or sometimes by a single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi, and that perform only a few limited functions. We have many different kinds of devices at home, on our person, or at school to perform useful work for us, or to provide us with information, in order to increase our well-being.
 

The design brief

Design a personal health station for monitoring vital health data on you and members of your family, using simple electronic circuitry, or a microcontroller board like the Arduino. Your personal health station may collect any pertinent data on your health; for example, your health station may monitor your weight, height, BMI, temperature, and so forth. Consider which data are important to you and your family and how best to measure and informatively display your results, and how it can encourage healthy living. Consider too, the user’s privacy when using the health station. Your personal health station should be located in your home, for example in the bathroom. Construct a working prototype of your personal health station and test it. Work on this project in a small team with a group of your classmates.
 

The design thinking process

​​​​​​​Follow the six stages of the design thinking process to ensure that you are thorough and do everything necessary to succeed in your design project. First, you endeavour to understand the design topic and EMPATHISE with the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DEFINE what is essential to the product or system that you are designing. Then you IDEATE, that is, you creatively come up with ideas and develop them. The next step is to PROTOTYPE your chosen design solution in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Then you TEST your design idea to elicit the opinions of users. And finally, at the end of the process, you REFLECT upon your project to benefit from the experience. Use the appropriate methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you proceed along the design thinking process.
 

Note for teachers

Undertaking a student design project using electrical parts or microcontrollers such as Arduino requires:

• teachers who are able to supervise such a project;
• laboratories or workshops with electrical and electronic parts and tools;
• ​​​​​​​and students who are trained to work with electricity, tools, and equipment.

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the PROTOTYPE Stage for Level IV to safely supervise this design project.