A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:

Introduction

Hey y'all! The Heart Spark is a fun interactive circuit board that makes the perfect gift for the geeks and nerds in your life. Featuring a minimalistic industrial design the Heart Spark lets the people you love know that they light up your world!

Inspiration

I've always been horrible at picking out thoughtful and meaningful gifts for my parents, sibling, and significant other. I struggle to get something that is sweet, but doesn't come off as cheap or as something they wouldn't be interested in. I thought I was the only one with this problem until I started talking with friends, and we realized that we all struggled with this. One Saturday night we were sitting around playing with LEDs and the idea for the Heart Spark was born.

The Product

The Heart Spark is a printed circuit board with a silk screen printed human outline on one side, and the words "Your Touch Lights Up My World! :)" on the back. It has a few basic electronic elements such as an amplifier, the red "heart" LED, on/off switch, and a AAA battery holder. As you can see from our video we have successfully prototyped and built the Heart Spark at small scale. The gift was designed and Prototyped by my friend Nishant Verma, an engineering student at Rice University.

Final Version

The only difference between the final version and the prototypes we've shown above is that we'll be using a classic green color for the PCB instead of the bright purple that is on our prototype. All other physical and printed elements will be the same