Week5

Within “Heat It Up” apparel there is a computer chip that contains all the binary information needed to carry out the functions the apparel allows the consumer.  There are bits that are coded for fully charging the heating system in the apparel, for powering on and off the heating system in the apparel, and for adjusting the temperature of the apparel.

The apparel needs to be fully charged to allow for the heating system to work for up to 12 hours.  There is one bite with the value 1 or 0 representing either yes it is charged or no it is not charged.  So the computer chip knows whether the system has been fully charged because it reads the one bite with the  values 1 or 0. Once the heating system has been fully charged, the consumer can choose to have the system on or off at any time throughout the day.  Once again there is one bite with the value 1 or 0 indicating the heating system is turned on or off.

When the heating system is on, the temperature can be adjusted.  There are five different settings for the heating system (65, 70, 75, 80, 85), meaning there are five different binary numbers associated with each.   Each of these binary numbers is made up of a combination of 1’s and 0’s and each contain 7 bits (just under 1 byte).  For example, the binary number for 65 is 1000001. Overall, the chip for this product requires less than one kilobyte to hold all of the binary information.

week4-input

      Each "Heat It Up" apparel has a control pad located somewhere on the garment. Each pad is small and encased in a soft material. Each pad has an up and down arrow which allows you to select the desired temperature, or turn off the heating system completely.
      You can choose from the lowest temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit to the highest temperature being 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and any five increments in between (70, 75 and 80). At any point during the day or night you can adjust the temperature with the use of the arrows on the touch pad.
      The up and down arrow buttons are connected to a little chip inside the apparel that processes the instructions to either increase or decrease the temperature within the heating system. This allows the user to not get too hot or too cold while wearing the apparel throughout the day and night.

Week3-Hardware

For the “Heat It Up” brand, all my apparel can be attached to a charger that warms up the heating system inside the clothing. As long as you have the charger and an electrical outlet, you can heat up any of the winter apparel.

            The charger’s hardware fully heats up each piece of apparel in a specific time, depending on the type of clothing. The winter coats take the longest to heat up, at 15 minutes. Clothing such as the scarves and gloves take less time. The charger will automatically stop charging once it has given the apparel enough power to last a period of 12 hours. If 12 hours of heating is not desired, the charger can be turned off before it is totally charged.

            The maximum temperature level for each piece of clothing is 85 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there is a control switch on the apparel itself, which allows you the option to lower the temperature. It can be reduced in increments of 5 degrees to as low as 65 degrees. So, throughout the day you can lower and increase the temperature as desired. In addition, the power can be completely turned off at any given time. This feature allows you to conserve power and only use it as needed, and giving the item a much more efficient usage of time.

Week 2 – Software

Excel is a great digital tool to help me run the “Heat It Up” business. It can thoroughly organize the large amount of data I will collect on the company. As data is received from different store locations, it can be inputted into the Excel charts and spreadsheets to allow for further manipulation of the data.

            More so, Excel will allow me to do a test to determine which months, during the winter, my apparel sold the most, as well as which apparel (coats, gloves, scarves etc.) did the best in stores. In addition, based on the price each item is sold for I can calculate the profit margins and determine if price adjustments need to be made. Since the city of Syracuse is known for its cold and snowy winters, I will be documenting the information based on this city.

After one year, I will continue using Excel in documenting the company’s business, but on a larger scale. Overall, Excel will keep my business organized. Weather calculating or creating data charts, using the Excel program versus doing it by hand, will allow me to make fewer mistakes and be more efficient.