This project was created to protest against child abuse. I attached a board to a baby doll that when shaken plays a negative sound and when laid to sleep it plays a lullaby. The intent is to show that the baby only reacts well to positive inputs. It is wrong to shake babies.
Every year, over 4 million referrals are made to child protection agencies. The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations, losing on average 5 children a day to this issue. It is a major issue that I hope to bring attention to with this project. The goal is to help teach people how to properly treat a child.
DevelopmentThe idea came to me by trying to think of real problems going on in the world and how I can base my project on bringing these problems to light. I believe that child abuse is a very common issue that too many people have experienced either first hand or through a loved one. I went to Goodwill to see if I could find a baby doll, and after a few different stores I found the one to do the job.
I brought that baby doll home and removed the outfit she was wearing. From there, I borrowed some yarn that my sister had handy and created a small harness out of the circuit board for the baby. I used pink yarn to match the pink onesie.
Once the harness was attached to the baby, I then attached the battery to it's side. Unfortunately it was not as easy to attach the battery using yarn as it was for the circuit board. Instead, I used some electrical tape to wrap it around the baby's lower torso.
Now that the electrical components were attached, I plugged the baby into the computer to create and input my code. I created a forever loop that plays a small lullaby when the baby is laid down flat. I also created an input that plays a negative sound when the baby is shaken. The goal is to positively reinforce treating the baby right, and deter abusing the child.
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