Right, so last month I decided to build this thing I called “Dr Champion.” Thought it was gonna be brilliant, my smart boxing glove setup for tracking punches. Spoiler: it mostly wasn’t.
Getting Started Crazy Simple
Kicked things off by digging through my junk drawer. Found some old gardening gloves – sturdy ones. Figured I’d tape sensors inside them. Got myself three chunky accelerometer chips off a bargain electronics site. Cheap stuff, felt flimsy.
Stuff Getting Janky
Wasted a whole Saturday trying to get the sensors stuck inside the gloves without them just flopping around. Duct tape wouldn’t hold. Glue gun made a sticky mess. Eventually used velcro strips – looked awful, but stayed put mostly. Next disaster: wiring those sensors together through the glove fingers. My fingers got poked with wires constantly. Hurt like crazy.
Shouting at Code
Grabbed an old Raspberry Pi Zero I used once for a failed plant watering thing. Hooked the sensors up. Wrote some Python code to read the sensor bumps. Code looked stupid simple:
- Get the big shake number when I throw a punch
- Count it if it’s bigger than my stupid neighbor’s loud music vibes
- Show the punch count on this tiny display
Easy, right? Nope. Half the time, the stupid gloves refused talking to the Pi. Did I punch? Did I wave hello? Who knows? The Pi stayed stubbornly silent.
Why I Even Bothered
Look, this whole mess started cause my lazy gym went bust after lockdown. They used this ancient, clunky system claiming to track members’ workouts – like punching heavy bags. Total scam. Paid for six months upfront. Two weeks in? System down. Staff just shrugged. Got receipts on my phone? Vanished after an “update.” Manager ghosts everyone.
No refund. No class. Just gone. Felt played big time.
That’s why Dr Champion popped in my head. Thought: “Can’t be harder than the crap they sold us.” Was I wrong? Yep. My stupid gloves mostly counted me slapping the Pi angrily when it froze. Got maybe five clean punches recorded ever.
Giving Up Loudly
Dr Champion now? Gathering dust next to that doomed plant sensor. Point was trying anyway, I guess. Still cheaper than that gym membership. They charged folks $300 a pop for nothing. At least my junk came from the drawer. Still bitter about that gym though. Absolute crooks.