Thomas Burrow

Glow Yoga Mat (2013-2014)

For 2.009, a senior capstone class at MIT, my team developed an incredible yoga mat. Dubbed Glow, it can light up and measure pressure anywhere on the mat. Coupled with an instructional video, Glow can teach yoga nearly as well as an instructor would be able to. My role was to design the pressure circuit and produce the PCB small enough to fit in the enclosure.

Using connections at Tekscan, a leading manufacturer of pressure sensitive mats, we were able to quickly develop several rounds of prototypes. Using breadboards, then perforated solder boards, and finally custom manufactured PCBs, I validated different chips and circuits. The amplification circuit design is similar to the one Tekscan designed decades ago, but I designed our own multiplexing system. I also laid out the switching power supply on the board. The full circuit is proprietary, so I can't publish it here.

For more information, watch the final class presentation and Q&A. You can also read about us in this Boston Magazine Article, this Gather Yoga Blog post and our brochure.

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