CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Since the midterm for Interaction Lab is all about building and making the most out of it by testing with different sensors, the first thought I had was to build something that would be appealing to look at and functionable robot; because mechanics revolved around a variety of different mechanics I wanted to build something that was related to robots, and that’s what inspired me to think of WALL-E. When it comes to interaction, I definitely think the sensors were what made me understand the interaction between humans and the mechanics. Interactivity in mechanics and humans means how well a machine can react and interact with what people do or input into it. The significance of our project is that we built an eco-friendly robot that gives a positive reaction when the trash is thrown into its body, which motivates us to throw out the trash. The purpose of the cute reactions was to encourage the user to continue throwing trash away and to keep their area always clean. Not only does it interact as a trash can but also may be used for a game such as throwing a basketball hoop, where the reactions serve as a “point” indicator. Since WALL-E is a widely known movie, I have wanted to design WALL-E because in the movie I found WALL-E’s movements very interactive with his emotions and features. Therefore, I thought WALL-E would be a good idea for our project, especially since our focus was on using multiple sensors. Also, considering we were thinking about a trash can, WALL-E was the perfect character because his role involves collecting trash, which aligns with the theme of our project. My project is intended for anyone since its purpose is to encourage people to dispose of trash in a more enjoyable manner and promote the creation of an eco-friendly environment. WALL-E’s reactions also create a pause for interaction between humans and provide an opportunity to interact with something non-human based on the sensors.
CONCEPTION AND DESIGN
To help people understand how to interact with WALL-E, we presented our project by distributing trash around WALL-E. The WALL-E character itself is very easy to recognize since WALL-E is known for collecting trash and has an open hole in the middle of its body. WALL-E is easy to understand due to his character in the movie. In other words, since WALL-E is portrayed as the robot that likes to collect trash, it makes it easier for the audience to grasp the purpose of WALL-E. We added two sensors on its body and two servos into its eyes to show WALL-E’s positive reaction when the trash is thrown out. This was best suited to our project’s purpose because when throwing out trash, the motion was the most ideal. We originally wanted to create something that related to plants based on the scene from the movie but this was not possible because we ran out of ideas on how to make an interactive approach with WALL-E.
CODING AND CITATIONS
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FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION
The most significant steps in our project were the coding process and ensuring that everything aligned correctly, along with connecting the breadboard and servos to the eyes. This part was crucial because it was where all the components were interconnected to enable WALL-E’s movements. My contribution to this project involved painting and gluing the pieces onto WALL-E’s parts. When painting, I used multiple colors to match WALL-E’s appearance. Waiting for the paint to dry took a considerable amount of time, so we used this time to work on our coding and WALL-E’s movement setups. During the user testing session, we received a lot of feedback. I felt that we needed significant improvements in terms of interaction. Some of the feedback we received included suggestions such as changing the colors of the LED lights using the RGB LED, exploring additional movements beyond just WALL-E moving his eyes, and enhancing the efficiency of the sensor when trash is thrown. In response to this feedback, we decided to add another sensor to WALL-E’s left hand. The second sensor, a touch sensor, would trigger WALL-E’s eyes to turn red and upward, indicating that he was angry. Not only did WALL-E respond positively but also responded negatively which allowed additional reaction with the audience.
E. CONCLUSIONS
The goal of our project was to create a trash can that was eco-friendly and encouraged people to recycle by making it fun and interactive. This project aligns with my definition of interaction because two interactive elements are present. The two interactives here are WALL-E and the tester. In other words, based on my definition, WALL-E reacts and interacts when the tester inputs the trash, and when WALL-E is touched, it angers him. These interactions between WALL-E and humans are what make interaction present. The audience really liked our project because many were familiar with the movie WALL-E, and most of the responses were that he was cute, which fulfilled our goal of making our project visually appealing. Since throwing away the trash triggered WALL-E’s movements, it attracted more testers to try. If we had more time, I would improve it by adding a voice box to WALL-E, possibly from a scene from the movie. We tried making this work; however, the buzzer was not advanced enough. If we had more time, we would have worked on the sound with the MP3 module. What I’ve learned from this is that we did not set a realistic goal and manage our time well. If we had broken down our goal for each day, I think we could have added more features to WALL-E. However, appearance-wise, I believe it fulfilled our goal.
RECYCLE
At the end, we took off our servos, wires, etc., and put them back into our kit, then took WALL-E back to the dorm with us to keep.