Background
There was a period of months during 2015 where I would awake in the morning feeling un-rested and un-refreshed. I was casually tracking my eating, sleeping and exertion habits but could not find any change or correlation. I began to suspect that I might have sleep apnea. Well, it's 2018 now and I've since learned that it was most likely due to melancholy or mild depression. But it was during that time that I considered creating a cheap device to measure my vitals while sleeping and give me a report in the morning.The Idea
Well, I was into the Arduino in 2015, so that would serve as the platform. Remember - I like to do my projects on the cheap, so I use stuff I already have, or try to "roll my own" solutions. Funny tangent, I just realized that the idiom comes from rolling your own cigarettes. Anyways, the Arduino is great for simple inputs, outputs and data recording (over serial or to an SD card).Here are the monitors I would consider building:
- Breathing
- Record Audio - just needs an electret microphone.
- Chest Strap - Use a band around the chest attached to a slide potentiometer and a spring to measure breathing as resistance.
- Brain Wave
- Probably best to use a market EEG headset. Either way this is more expense than I want at present.
- Sleep Stages
- Accelerometer-based sleep detection.
- Arms & Legs
- Accelerometer-based tracking of motion for each limb.
- Heart Rate
- There are cheap ECG or IR sensors that can provide rudimentary feedback.
Progress
I discovered my issue is likely based on personal stress. I haven't built one yet. But every time I have sleep issues I always get curious. I don't have plans to finish one at this time, but you never know.Has it Been Done Before?
All of these monitors have been done before individually. I have no interest in product or sharing, but at least there is prior projects to use as guides.
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