I intentionally did not attempt to put the Arduino controller inside the test Preemie, because an Arduino draws (and converts to heat) a certain number of milliamps (about 100).

However, if this is not too much heat to realistic model a new-born infant, we could improve the test preemie by using a Arduino micro or lillypad (I have a micro), and putting the battery and the Arduino INSIDE the Test Preemie. This would make it a lot more elegant.

This should be easy --- let's just see if it takes fewer watts per hour if we build it that way.

It would be nice if the Test Preemie were essentially a data logger over time.

We would like to create an infant warmer with a pocket (so that there is cloth separation between baby and the heat) to hold the heat mass in a separate area from the baby. We also probably want holes for the wires for this.

As mentioned in the repo (though it is under fan stuff it applies equally to the Incubator), we really need an open-source PCB board (such as those auto-constructable at Fritzing) that is a "break-out board" for the MOSFET transistor to control the 12V power supply on a circuit distinct from the Arduino itself. I personally believe this would be WIDELY reusable by hobbyist for a large number of applications.

There are a number of detectable conditions that we wish to "alarm" on. This should be done with an Audio buzzer programmed by the Arduino. These include:

• Baby too cold (by a set amount)
• Baby too hot (by a set amount)
• Short circuit
• Low battery power.

The idea here is to research existing sewing patterns that might allow us to build an infant holder. Ideally we may wish to modify these to allow the insertion of the heating blanket, a heat mass, and sensors, but we can't do anything until we have a good "blanky" in one form or another. This requires no knowledge of electronics.

The temperature sensor right now is just taped to the outside---we probably should have more than one sensor, and it should be more robust.

This requires no knowledge of electronics.

It would be nice to have someone with some video skill shoot and edit a video of the construction of the early version of the incubator. This could include a motivating section.

I think the Incubator should be moved to "ATX Preemie Wamer".

This is really a research issue: Can we use a contact microphone inside the baby nest to detect heart rate?

In principle, I believe it is possible to create a "recipe" for a phase-change material of body temperature out of inexpensive paraffin, possibly with the admixture of epsom salt of some other inexpensive salt. It think this would be a very fun and valuable project to undertake --- just a little kitchen chemistry!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-change_material

Note that "Paraffin 20-carbons" is very close to the correct temperature already. I don't know how expensive this is.

It would make a nice instructable to create something like "Make your own phase change material from candles" or something.

Somebody needs to build a model that includes insulation of some kind to try to understand how long we can expect the warmer to maintain body heat with particular kinds of batteries. This is a very basic calculation, and is essential to the success of the Incubator project. It is made far more complicated by the need to model insulation in some way. I think we should start with just two layers of flannel as a basic model.

This is a simple crafty skill. The current "Test Preemie" doll is made of little plastic pellets. They are both insulating and have no thermal bass. It is very difficult to heat them in a meaningful way.

We need to creating a little 1 kilogram mass of water, or something other material, that will moderate temperature changes. In essence we are attempting to model human flesh.