Month: October 2022

1. this is the image I choose.

I choose this image because the lines are easy and there are many basic shapes in this image so it is easy for me to do my painting. another reason why I choose this is that I enjoyed Harry Potter very much and always want an owl of myself so I wanted to draw an owl to satisfy this wish. 

2. I plan to first draw a triangle with two circles as the owl’s head and then another two circles as the eyes of the owl. I’m going to use a line and an arc to draw the owl’s wing and two arcs as the body of the owl. the tail will be using a triangle. the feet will be using a few lines. I lost my paper drawing so I couldn’t put it here. but here is my final version of the owl.

it is generally similar but the head is a bit different from the original painting. also, the eyes are not linked together and the mouth is a bit lopsided. in general, the head is not big enough. and the tail is not as beautiful as the original one. 

I don’t think Processing is a good way of realizing my design. because it can only fill in the color with neat shapes, it can not fill in the color between lines where there’s no shape. also, it is difficult to adjust the shape so that the ends can meet. also, I first didn’t realize that you can input a negative angle in the brackets so I failed to make perfect shapes. also, I didn’t realize that you can only fill in colors within shapes so I fail to fill in colors as well. but I asked professor Rudi and solved the questions. 

here is my code for the painting. 

void setup() {
  size(600, 600);
}
void draw() {
  // Your drawing code goes here
  background(41,88,14);
  //noStroke();
  line(325, 368, 341, 378);
  line(341, 378, 338, 386);
  line(325, 368, 333, 380);
  line(333, 380, 331, 390);
  line(325, 368, 325, 381);
  line(325, 381, 320, 389);
  line(359, 351, 375, 362);
  line(375, 362, 376, 369);
  line(359, 351, 368, 365);
  line(368, 365, 367, 370);
  line(359, 351, 362, 367);
  line(362, 367, 360, 371);
  fill(147,110,65);
  triangle(212,99,403,97,303,157);
  fill(222,207,190);
  arc(277, 275, 267, 200, PI/2, PI,OPEN);
  arc(278, 235, 280, 280, -PI/5, PI/2,OPEN);
  triangle(240,233,239,155,390,156);
  triangle(240,156,300,157,266,135);
  triangle(300,157,347,129,391,155);
  fill(222,207,190);
  stroke(222,207,190);
  triangle(144,276,277,378,392,155);
  fill(188,145,93);
  arc(165, 193, 167, 167, -PI/4, PI/1.5,OPEN);
  fill(175,173,173);
  arc(234, 120, 67, 67, 0, PI+PI);
  arc(380, 120, 67, 67, 0, PI+PI);
  fill(98,85,70);
  triangle(167, 86, 435, 86, 301, 120);
  fill(147,110,65);
  triangle(166,333,135,330,149,352);
  fill(41,13,20);
  ellipse(231, 125, 30, 30);
  ellipse(378, 125, 30, 30);
 
  
  println(mouseX, mouseY);
}
 

1. project title: pandemic & quarantine, my name: Amelia Ji, instructor name: Margret Minsky

2. my previous project is to take a picture of something and show the image of it in the future. that is a travel in time. my midterm project is to quarantine people when the hand is turned to a certain angle and release people after a count down from seven and the hand was turned to another certain angle. this project is a combination of both time and space. so in some sense, I get the idea of a delay in time from the previous project. also, from the previous project, I learned how to do teamwork which helps my midterm project. I learned how to communicate my ideas clearly with my teammate and how to make her adapt my ideas. also, I learned how to distribute time reasonably so that I won’t be in a rush when the deadline is close. I have researched a project where the distance between poles and the microphone is controlled by the volume of sound. from this project, I learned that it is important for any kind of interaction to have certain criteria. whether it is a certain angle or the volume of sound. it is important because, without that, we can not determine whether the device is reacting or not. I also researched a project that will project the words you type to the wall once you push a button. this project has told me that we should always set a starting point for the whole process of interaction. without that starting point, that process of interaction can not be separated from other activities. so my definition of interaction is the process of two or multiple people or things responding to others with or without thinking or understanding how the other has acted, those reactions are measured by certain criteria and with a specific starting point. the unique thing about my project is that it exists in the real world. the difference between what exists and my project is that my project is touchable but the real world one is the institution we are all living under which can not be touched. also, in my project, everything can be changed by us but things can not be changed in the real world. about the current policy about pandemics and quarantine, I think it is purely a disaster made by people. it is no longer a disaster of nature. it is useless, and harmful to individuals and society. as for my project, I think it shows how everything is a disaster for people, and also by the long waiting time, we are stating that quarantine is both suffering and useless. the horrible outlook of our device also shows how harmful quarantine is. so by creating this project, we are calling for less unnecessary quarantine. this project is targeted at those who haven’t been quarantined and those who have the power to change everything. for those who have never been quarantined, this project shows how horrible and useless quarantine is so that they will understand the need to cancel unnecessary quarantine. for those who are in the power of changing the current situation, this project can show the same thing to them and make them do something to change the situation. 

3. the way my users are going to interact with my project is to turn the rotary knob. because of that, we use green code, yellow code, and red code to indicate different situations. also, I use the hand of a clock to lengthen the knob because I want to indicate the passing of time. the form I use is the form of a house which indicates the quarantine hospital. the material we use is the paint and cardboard. the element we use is white and red. the criteria we have is to make the whole project as horrible and as grave as possible. it suits my project perfectly because the whole quarantine thing is horrible and grave. the horrible appearance also made people think about how a hospital where lives are being saved becomes someplace that is horrible. so people will think about changing the current situation. the color white and red is the color of the hospital so it suits our project perfectly. cardboard is very crude which indicates the difficult living situation in the quarantine hospital. the paint is heavy and can show the strokes so it can appear the gravity we want. we also use the turning knob instead of inputting Radom numbers because we think this will show it is controlled by people instead of nature. 

4. the most significant step in my project is to design the code to control the countdown and the code to control the opening and closing of the door. we first tried to use the remote controller to open and close the door but neither of us know how to do it. we searched online and asked the learning assistants but none of them are helpful. and the time is ticking so we give up using the remote controller and use the turning knob instead. then we use the displayer to show how many days are left. I’m in charge of the draft of the project and the making of the outlook of the project as well as part of the coding that controls the countdown. we mostly communicate through WeChat. we almost meet every day for more than two hours per day and will have bubble tea during making our project to enhance our friendship. my teammate will come up with some revised idea for our project and we will talk about whether it is feasible and revise it. during the user testing session, our classmates and teachers pointed out they don’t know what to do. also, the safe and severe posts were unclear. they also point out we should make the people enter the hospital and leave the hospital by themselves. the circuit also has some problems. we adapt all the advice. we made the post with a red code, yellow code, and green code. we write a “turn it” sign beside the turning knob. we made our headmaster come out of the hospital and get in the hospital by himself. we also adjust our code so the door will stay closed when the hand is at the red code. they were quite effective. they made our project more interactive as well as made it more direct about the idea it wants to pass. also, the project become more organized.

5. our goal of the project is to make people realize how useless and horrible quarantine is and to call for people to cancel unnecessary quarantine. people all think our project is horrible in appearance and the waiting time is unbearable. so in some way, we reached our goal. my audience first turns the knob, giving a clear start to the interaction, and gives out his act. then the door will close or open and the people will come out or get in. which is determined by how much the person turns. and that is a clear criterion. also, it is an act that the project that responds to the first action given out by people. I would improve my project by having people input a Radom number using the remote controller and compare it with the random number produced by the computer. if they are the same then the door will close. the value I learned is that if you have failed and the time is limited, try another approach to that question. it doesn’t mean giving up. it just means you should think more creatively. I think my takeaway is that you should always try communicating with others to get a good result. pandemic is a serious health issue in 2020, it becomes a serious social issue in 2021, and now it is a serious institutional issue in 2022. the take different governments that adapted to the pandemic reveal the positive and negative sides of their institution. however, that institution is not set, we can all change it by changing the way we treat the pandemic. to do so, we should first change our way toward quarantine as it is the epitome of the pandemic. if you want people’s attitudes to change, you need to first make them understand the downside of it. and that’s the use of our project. to make people realize quarantine is useless to change the institution as a whole. 

6. some videos about my project

here is the code of our project

we forget to document our every failed attempt in doing our project, so we only have the successful one. so extremely sorry about that. when we are doing our project, our time is not enough because we first tried the remote controller and wasted a lot of time. so we completely forget about this documentation thing. it won’t happen again. so sorry about it. 

#include 
Servo myservo1;
Servo myservo2;
int pin2 = 2 ;  // 设置数字引脚2~9为输出模式
int pin3 = 3 ;   
int pin4 = 4 ;
int pin5 = 5 ;
int pin6 = 6 ;
int pin7 = 7 ;
int pin8 = 8 ;
int pin9 = 9 ;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(11,OUTPUT);          /*数字口要选择带#号的具有pwm功能的输出口*/
  myservo1.attach(12);
  myservo2.attach(13);
  
 pinMode(pin2, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin2, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin3, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin3, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin4, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin4, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin5, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin5, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin6, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin6, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin7, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin7, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin8, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin8, HIGH);
 pinMode(pin9, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(pin9, HIGH);
  
}

void loop() 
{
  int n = analogRead(A0);     /*读取A0模拟口的数值（0-5V 对应 0-1204取值）*/
  analogWrite(11,n/4);         /*PWM最大取值255  所以将模拟口的取值n除以4*/

  if (n > 60){
    myservo2.write(70);
    delay(2000);
    myservo1.write(170);
    delay(2000);
    
    // 显示数字7 
    int n7[8]={0,0,1,1,1,1,0,1};
    // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n7[8]中的数据显示
    for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
    digitalWrite(pin,n7[pin-2]);
    }
    delay(2000);

   // 显示数字6 
   int n6[8]={1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n6[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n6[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000);
   // 显示数字5 
   int n5[8]={1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n5[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n5[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000); 

   // 显示数字4
   int n4[8]={0,1,0,0,1,1,0,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n4[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n4[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000); 

   // 显示数字3
   int n3[8]={0,0,1,0,1,0,0,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n3[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n3[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000);

   // 显示数字2
   int n2[8]={0,0,1,0,0,0,1,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n2[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n2[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000); 

   // 显示数字1 
   int n1[8]={0,1,1,1,1,1,0,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n1[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n1[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000);

    // 显示数字0 
   int n0[8]={0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1}; 
   //数字引脚2~9依次按数组n0[8]中的数据显示 
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){ 
   digitalWrite(pin,n0[pin-2]);
   }
   delay(2000);
  
   
   int n00[8]={1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
   // 数字引脚2~9依次按数组n4[8]中的数据显示
   for(int pin = 2; pin <= 9 ; pin++){
   digitalWrite(pin,n00[pin-2]);
   }
  }   
   
  if (n < 60){
    myservo1.write(70);
    delay(2000);    
    myservo2.write(170);
  }
}







 

1. the project we are doing on this recitation is a machine that can turn circular power into power in a straight line. the gear will rotate so that a stick on top of it will go back and forth. our assignment is to build the circuit for this device and build that device by ourselves and personalized it. we are expected to learn how to build machines that can work on their own instead of having us control them ourselves. 

2. the most challenging part for me is that because I’m under quarantine that Friday, I have to do the whole project by myself. so it took me a long time to do so. I first wrongly understood where to stick the cardboard. so I have to do it all over again. then I learned that I should use cardboard to make sure I’m sticking the right side and then stick the glue to it. I also realized that when connecting the circuit, we should always remember to use different colors of lines so that we don’t get confused. I almost failed the first time because I can’t tell which line is which. the whole process didn’t go completely as planned but I still made it the first time. and I have achieved what I was set to do. if I was to do something similar in the future, I will try to make the circuit less dense so that it would be easier for me to connect them. 

3. I’m very interested in the project, Slaves by Daniel Palacios Jiménei. By using lines to create sounds and waves and using other devices to recreate them, I can see a sense of transformation. Daniel first transforms a touchable line into audible sound and visible waves. Then Daniel made people able to use lights to recreate the sound made by the line which in another sense is a kind of transformation too. Through this kind of transformation, we can see the connection between things and find different ways to reach our goals. Just like the device we made in class, we use a wheel to make the circular motion into linear movement as well as made the electrical power into power that can be sensed by us. We can see a similar transformation in those two cases. I think the author choose those actuators because he wanted to show the transformation between figurative things and abstract things. also, there are similarities between lines and sound because they are both waves. 

4. I’m interested in building a device that shows the countdown on the computer visually and figuratively. the following is not a sketch but what we have made so far which is pretty much what we are going to show on Friday.

we use cardboard, two Arduinos a wiring board, some wires, a device that shows the countdown number, a red light, a slide rheostat, and a motor with fans. I expect the users will turn the slide rheostats and the light will light up, the brightness will change as you turn and when it reaches a certain brightness, the door will close when the countdown ends, and the door will open again. the animation on the digital screen will not be able to show the door open and close. 

1. quarantine game-Amelia-Margaret Minsky

2.

3. this project focuses on the project of quarantine and is intended for an audience that has gone through quarantine or heard of it. the insight I found is quarantine means total darkness. it’s suffering and random. it scares us and we all hope we don’t play the game of quarantine. there are no reference projects that inspire me. I got the idea from my own extended quarantine this week. this project will work this way. first, an audience will input a number while the computer generates a random number. if those two numbers are the same, the fans will release the spring to close the doors. when the door is closed, the sensor inside will sense there’s no light so it will start counting. once it counts to seven, the fans will spin to open the doors. the challenge I seek to address is how to coordinate three Arduinoes to make them work together. its impact is letting people who haven’t gone through quarantine experience that and find out how quarantine is scary. so the whole society will take it seriously and make the life of those who were in quarantine better.

1.the idea our group focused on is time travel technology. we noticed the requirement of our idea should be part of the environment, creative and concrete, have existing technologies or devices similar to our concept, and we should also force some problems coming with the device. our device focused on the novel “the Veld”; in this novel, the father picked up a wallet covered with saliva and a scarf stained with blood that belonged to his wife’s future self. indicating their fate of being eaten by the lion. so we come up with a camera that can tell the future of the thing it took picture of. which is in the environment of the story. also, we discussed the detail of the camera carefully. the time can be set so you can see the object in minutes, hours or days. this camera can also be used on human beings. also, if you make changes to the objects being taken a picture of, the next picture of it will change accordingly. similar technologies are AR technology which can show cultural relics as it was being repaired and other camera technology which can show your appearance when you are old by taking a picture of yourself. the innovative point of our device is that we can see the two technologies above are all reactive instead of interactive. we can not do anything after the machine has reacted to our first move. but our device is interactive. because we can react after the machine has reacted. the problem of coming up with devices that we have thought about is philosophical. that is do you want to accept your destiny or change it? do you want to see your future in the camera? 

2. the definition of interaction is the process of two or multiple people or things responding to others with or without thinking or understanding how the other has acted for me. we can see there are two objects in our design. the person who takes pictures and the camera. we can also observe that the camera responds to the person who takes a picture by giving a picture of the future with some calculating. and the person who took the picture will want to change the future and do something in return that is responding to the outcome of the camera. so we can see this device of ours is interactive according to my definition of interaction. 

3.I think the artifact is successful because it solves the problem that similar devices are all reactive instead of interactive. also, this device perfectly blended into the environment of the novel. The unsuccessful part is that we didn’t come up with a theory of how the camera worked. in that way we didn’t know how to build a camera like that in reality. we can only say it is depending on a strong AI. also, I think it is not that successful because we couldn’t make a performance to show its relationship with the novel as well as it’s the problem that comes along with this invention. 

4. my role in the process is devoting ideas, making the prototype, acting, preparing tools, and introducing the reflection part of the camera. specifically, the idea of making a camera that can do things similar to time travel comes from me. then, I and Almon made the prototype of the camera. I also acted during the performance as the one who cheated on Rebecca and helped explain the function of the camera. in the end, I also come up with the problems that the camera may bring and some reflections our group has towards the camera. 

5. the process of our group is that we first have a meeting and determine the idea we are going to work on. then we have a second meeting right before the holiday to determine everyone’s responsibilities. then Siwei did all the paperwork, Angel made the draft of the camera, I and Almon made the prototype of the camera and Rebecca made the decoration of the camera. then we met after the holiday to rehearse the whole show. we divide our parts in the show. Almon will introduce the camera and, Siwei and Rebeca will use our action to show its function. then Angel will elaborate on the relative technologies of the camera. in the end, I will ask the audience a question to reflect on our device. the way our group works together is first separately and then come together. we first did our part well and put them together to form great teamwork. 

here is our script:

Slide 1

In this part of the story, George, the father, found a dirty wallet covered with saliva and blood, which implied the fate of the couple.

Slide2

Searching the technology that exists, we find two types of technology. One is the AR technology that helps us see what the cultural relics look like thousands of years ago. The other one is the AI technology that helps us see how we look when we are old.

Slide 3

The other one is the AI technology that helps us see how we look when we are old.

Slide 4

After reading this, we came up with an idea: How about making a camera that can predict what will happen in the future?  Isn’t that cool?

This is the prototype of our imaginary device: future-telling instant camera.

You can switch the mode, choose the state of the object you would like to see. Five minutes? An hour? One day? Or…Fifty years later?

This is an apple. Let’s take a photo of it and see what will happen one day later.

Oops! It’s rotten.

Now , let’s put it into our fridge. Let’s take another photo!

Wow! How fresh it is!

Slide 5

We can think about what the device can do.

We think, if this technology is real, maybe we can use it to avoid the danger in the future. 

And there is a problem. If you can use the camera to see yourself in the future, will you accept your destiny or try to change it? Are you willing to see what life you live in the future? There is no right or wrong answer. If you have any opinion, please raise your hand.

6.the group I’m going to analyze is the group that invented the machine that can wash all the viruses out of someone. in their project, they said that if someone was infected with the vital virus, we should put them into the machine they invented which will wash them dry and disinfect them. after those processes, they will be virus-free. they use a patient as a case to show their device’s process of disinfecting people. this device is extremely relevant to the novel because, in the novel, there is a deadly virus that infects many people. and with this device to disinfect people, the situation will be much better in the novel. I think it meets the criteria of relating to the novel and the innovative part. however, I don’t consider it to be interactive according to my definition of interaction. because the machine only reacts to our demands and we do not reply to the machine. so this device is reactive from my point of view. and it does not show the corresponding technologies as well as the problems they may cause in the future. so I do not think it meets the criteria in those aspects. I think this device is a bit like a car washing machine and lacks medical support but it does relate perfectly with the fiction story and is very innovative. I don’t think the action is that creative but it does help me to understand the function of the artifacts perfectly. because we can see a doctor telling a patient that he is ill and after he went through the device, he was virus-free. so we can know perfectly what that device is for. As a suggestion, I think that the group can be more interactive when they design their projects. for example, they can design that a device can detect viruses and we have to do something after the virus was dented to disinfect us. 

1. the device we are doing on the recitation session is a device that can detect the rise and fall of your arm and give a certain reflection on the computer according to the coding. my assignment is to make such a device and write code according to the instruction. we hope we can learn how to write certain code and how to build our device by ourselves. 

2. the first assignment was to solder the sensor to two wires. it was my first time using the solder machine on my own. it was difficult because it was hard for me to hold the two ends together. also, the smoke kept coming to my eyes and it was uncomfortable. but in the end, I succeed. from this experience, I learned to fix the two ends to the cardboard before soldering them together. 

3. the next assignment was to build the circuit. at first, I didn’t recognize the picture of the circuit because it is not the same as I used to see before. but then, after reaching for help from the learning assistant, I figured out what each component means. then I connected them. but the Arduino couldn’t be connected to my computer. so I asked another learning assistant, Christine. and she told me that my circuit is a short circuit. so I unplugged several wires that leads to this situation. after that, my Arduino was connected to the computer. by doing this project, I learned that we should always check out our circuit to find whether it is a short circuit. and always reach out for help when there’s something wrong with your circuit. 

4. the third assignment was to copy and paste one of the codes to the Arduino IDE to test whether the circuit is working well. this assignment went go very well. I managed to do it with no difficulties. 

5. the next step was to wear my sensor. at first, I didn’t know how the sensor works so I lifted up my arms in a small range, so the number doesn’t change as I wished. then I tried and succeed in figuring out how the sensor works. then I moved my arms in a bigger range and the number changed as wished. from this, I learned to figure out how things work before trying to make that work. 

6. the next task was to edit the code so that when the arm is down, there will be no number there. at first, I didn’t know how to add an “if” to the code. then I asked one of the professors, professor Gati. he told me that I should print two = to make the computer understand that I was not giving it a value. so I tried again and I succeed. in this assignment, I learned the difference between one = and two = and know how to use them to achieve my goals. 

7. the next task is to make the computer add a number every time I lifted and lowered my arm. I first forgot to declare a variable so I couldn’t upload my code to the computer. then I found out about this mistake and declared this variable. through this task, I learned to check every step of the assignment before actually writing the code. I also remembered to declare every variable before making use of it. 

8. the next task was to set a limit to the number it can count. first, the limit was 8 and then it was 16, 24. at first, I didn’t know that to make the computer print a sentence, I need to use “”, so the code can’t be uploaded. then I asked Iris for help and she told me about my mistake. so I mended it. then it worked perfectly. I learned to put an “” every time I make the computer print a sentence. 

9. the next assignment was to design where else this device can be put on. what I thought is that it can be used to count the number of sit-up one did if it was put on the belly of the tester. this taught me to think about the practical use of a device once it was designed. 

 
int SENSOR_PIN = 2;
int tiltVal;
int prevTiltVal;
int count;
void setup() {
pinMode(SENSOR_PIN, INPUT); // Set sensor pin as an INPUT pin
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// read the state of the sensor
tiltVal = digitalRead(SENSOR_PIN);
// if the tilt sensor value changed, print the new value
if (tiltVal != prevTiltVal) {
if (tiltVal == 1) {
count = count + 1;
Serial.println(count);
if (count==24){
Serial.println(“yay, you’ve done one set of curis”);
}
}
prevTiltVal = tiltVal;
}
delay(10);
}

10. the value will show high if the device inside it was tilted over. I noticed that it was very sensitive. I don’t need to do anything too violent to make the value change. if I rotate my arm, the value will also change. if I shake it, it will also change. if I hold the wire several centimeters away from it and tilt it, the number will also change. I think it is too sensitive to be used on people. but I do think it can be used on sensitive machines.