Tools: SolidWorks · 3D printing (PLA, TPU) · ESP32 · Reed switches · C++/Arduino
Timeline: October 2025 – December 2025 · Team of 5

Overview
People wearing heavy PPE, or living with a disability or injury, often can’t use a phone or media player with their hands. Our team designed a wearable controller, that lets them play, pause, and skip media without precise hand movements. We called it Magneto.

What I did
The controller uses reed switches and neodymium magnets as inputs, run by an ESP32. I helped program the ESP32 to read the switches in different orientations and designed compact, modular 3D printed housings that fit the electronics, an antenna, and different battery sizes, with interchangeable ways to attach the device to the body.

Result
Our first PLA housings didn’t protect the internals well enough, and multiple ESP32s died during drop tests and user testing. We prototyped a fix that sandwiched the PLA between inner and outer TPU layers, keeping the housing rigid while absorbing much more shock. We ran out of time to build it into the final version.

What I learned
A design that works on the bench isn’t finished. It has to hold up in the conditions it’s actually used in. Testing early and breaking things on purpose taught me more than anything that worked the first time.

Looking back, I also learned to document projects better!