BrakeWizard

Roller Blading can get dangerous sometimes, especially the whole "stopping" part. BrakeWizard is a Bluetooth-based Electronic Braking System for Roller Blades that allows you to stop on a dime.

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Inspiration

Our team member Ava is an avid rollerblader, and she often remarks about how difficult it is even for her to stop when she builds up speed. She even went out of her way to purchase a rubber attachment to the back of her rollerblade that used friction to stop, but at the cost of her ankle grinding up against the ground. We started to think of a safer mechanism that utilizes technology to automatically help bladers come to a halt.

What it does

BrakeWizard works through an Android App that constantly runs on the skater's phone during the duration of their skate. When they push the button on their phone, the motor wedges a piece of thick rubber into the ground at an angle that provides static friction to the ground while also keeping the skater stable. This helps the skater to stop easier, without hurting their ankle or knees.

How we built it

We built an Android Application with a simple button that activates the wedge. Bluetooth provides communication between the application and an ESP32 Microcontroller, which sends signals to an L298N motor controller that actuates the motor that the wedge sits on. All of this is connected to two laser-cut pieces of wood and fits snugly across the sides of the skate, connected via some clever wiring.

Challenges we ran into

The Bluetooth communication was the largest hurdle because we originally had an Arduino UNO which required an external module to communicate via Bluetooth. We switched from that to an ESP8266 before eventually settling on the ESP32 that we used for the project.

Another hurdle was fitting all the electronics on the skate since there were a lot of individual modules required for the project. However, we were able to fit everything we needed on the sides of the shoe thanks to some laser-cutting, some wood screws, and some zip ties.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The motor actuates very quickly in response to the button press and provides instant pressure to slow down the skate. The rubber brake also works at an acute angle which doesn't propel the skater forwards or backward, but rather allows them to stay still while coming to a stop.

What we learned

  • How to wire an ESP32, motor controllers, motors, and a 9V power supply in a circuit
  • How to set up Bluetooth communication for small microcontrollers
  • How to use MIT App Inventor, Android Studio, and Java to program an application

What's next for BrakeWizard

  • Use stronger motors/power supplies to provide more power to the brake
  • Fully automated brake sequence (ie. slowly applies the brakes to a varying degree over time)

Thank you for your time and consideration!

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