I first followed the instructions to build the circuit transistor should be replaced by a potentiometer, thus measuring and plotting the values with AnologRead.

In the beginning, I was missing a wire because of a connection error, so the way my motor turned was very unusual, it would not be controlled by the sliding rheostat, but was pumping on its own without regularity. So we checked the wire connection, found the problem, and solved it in time. 

The next step was that we connected the two machines that Sebastian and I built separately to make the final version.

Then I changed the code with the function diagram and we were surprised to find that we could control the pen with AnologWrite’s console logging potentiometer value

Question 1: What kind of machines are you interested in building? Add a thought about using actuators, the art of digital manipulation.

As for me, I think the type I’m interested in is iterations that might replace very basic human labor, which requires a lot of patience. I think actuators can help people do repetitive tasks and make our lives easier. Because it can translate energy sources into physical-mechanical motion, it can maintain both linear motion and manipulation, as well as circular motion, without human labor. The art of digital manipulation is creative and useful. Photographic manipulation, digital art, and generative visual art can all be considered digital manipulation. It is creative. It uses digital technology as a presentation process. However, algorithms are considered cold and hard, on the other hand, art is something soft and warm. The combination of both algorithm and art makes the creation unique and special. It is also useful. Digital manipulation of art allows art forms to be created randomly. Humans can have deviations in creating their work, however, computers may not. If you set it up with a random code, the entire art can be generated randomly, without human bias or thought.

Question 2: Choose an art installation mentioned in the reading ART + Science NOW, Stephen Wilson (Kinetics chapter). Post your thoughts about it and make a comparison with the work you did during this recitation. How do you think that the artist selected those specific actuators for his project?

The work in the reading “The Drumming And Drawing Subhuman, 2000” really caught my eye. Both the robot and my work contain motors, and they can both be involved in the process of creating a work of art; the robot creates the music, while my drawing machine creates the drawing. The difference is that the robot is automatic, while my drawing machine must be controlled by a human. The artist chose the actuators that allow the robot to move its arms and create music with the sound of drums.

Spring Garden_Audrey Lindy_Instuctor: Marcela
        Because of the epidemic, we had to be locked down at home to be quarantined in March when spring comes, but we still want to welcome spring in a special form of  IMA students, so we wanted to use light and electricity to create a garden of flowers and butterflies indoors.
       The materials we use are                                                                                                                              Satin cloth （shining fabric）x 0.5m                                                                                                        Origami paper x2                                                                                                                                                    DC motor x1                                                                                                                                                             Arduino x1                                                                                                                                                            Electric wires a few                                                                                                                                                  Iron wire 0.9mm x 28m                                                                                                                                        glass lampshade 15cm x 18cm x1                                                                                                                               We want to use this expression to reflect the change of flowers and butterflies, butterflies flying up and down and flowers blooming under the control of the motor, to reflect the vivid spring scene.

        We were inspired by the lotus candles that we used to use as children for birthdays, which suddenly bloomed when they were lit, so we thought we could also create flowers that bloomed under motor control.

        So we wanted to create a spring landscape with motor-controlled flowers and butterflies. The challenge was that we were isolated at home and my group and I were not able to work together to complete the project. Lindy and I had to make the flowers and butterflies separately and assemble them when we returned to campus in order to display the complete artwork.                                                                                                                                                     However, after many discussions and improvements, we settled on the solution of creating ornamental motorized controllable butterflies and flowers in a glass enclosure to achieve the desired effect, as the limitation of isolation did not allow for more interaction on the piece.

Idea

The idea for our group came from the book The Fish of Lijiang. Time dilation and time sense compression are two interesting concepts mentioned in the book, which inspired us that the ability to have subjective control over time is what we wanted to achieve with our invention.

Bring Storm

In the beginning, the members of our group wanted to make a design invention about holographic projection. We all thought the idea was cool and futuristic, but we realized that it would be almost impossible for us to render the scenery created by the holographic projection on cardboard. Then Anny offered my opinion. She envisioned a perfume that could change the way people feel about time, help them enjoy it, or make boring time go by faster. But they didn’t think the perfume presentation was that futuristic and suggested we could make a helmet or headband. Unfortunately, we found that many other groups had already made something like this. Anny came up with the idea that we could make a headset that could connect to the brain via bone conduction. The form of the headset looks less exaggerated and can still be futuristic by decorating it like a butterfly.

Final Design

Our group’s project is a headset that can change the way people feel about time. The headset is controlled by a watch, and when the bottom of the watch is pressed, the person wearing the headset can share the time. In other words, their perception of the flow of time is altered so that, for example, one second can be five seconds. The people around them won’t notice any difference. This is more about changing subjective feelings than objective facts.

Making Process

The first thing we wanted to do was make headphones that looked like headphones, so we made two box-type things that were attached with a piece of cardboard. That was easy to do, but the problem was that it couldn’t be worn securely. So Anny thought we could do hanging earphones, but it was a bit complicated and she just made them herself. We didn’t expect to be able to use this, but when she was done, it worked. For aesthetics, Anny added two more butterflies on the outside. The watch was made by Owen and the other headphones were made by Lexie, Anny and Ling together.

Evaluate

We were wondering how to draw this product out and came up with the idea of a birthday party. Since the headphones are not too big, they are easy to carry. We decided together how the story would be handled, and I distilled it into a script. We rehearsed it a few times before the reading that day and it went very well. We also bought a cake and some candy as props to create a birthday atmosphere. The whole process of collaboration went very smoothly, and although we were torn in making decisions, we agreed on them quickly. And the prop making and rehearsal process was also very efficient, we finished it in only three meetings. The performances were also very good, with slow-motion performances that made everyone laugh. But the presentation of our work was not enough, it should have been more detailed, and the sharing of sugar distracted the audience in some cases, and should have focused more on our product.

Video Record

Critical analysis and assessment of performance from Mood Bubble

The Mood Bubble team’s project is a machine that can connect and share people’s emotions and memories. People can upload their emotions to the master brain through a tube connected to the head. I think this piece has a good intention to make it easier for people from different backgrounds to show empathy to others, and it relates to the winter market in a way because it also conveys the idea of sharing awareness. It meets the interactivity criteria of the assignment because this machine can help two or more people communicate their ideas, thus creating different scenarios for different users.

However, it is not so creative because it borrows ideas directly from the novel with only few changes. The performance is fairly easy to understand, with all those emotions and physical tubes painted on the head.

In this class, we were given various types of sensors to interact with the circuit. By building circuits, we managed to understand how sensors work and how to interact with them.

Q1:The first circuit we built connected an ultrasonic sensor, which can be used to detect distance. However, when we tried to do something with it, it did not respond as expected. It seems to be more sensitive to changes in lateral distances rather than longitudinal distances. The sensor can be used to detect distances that are difficult for humans to measure, for example, at the depth of the sea.

The second circuit we built contains a vapor sensor. A motor is also connected to the circuit to indicate changes in the vapor input. This sensor can be used to detect vapor concentration in environments such as mines and construction sites to ensure human health.

The third circuit we built is much like the one we built in the previous class. The force resistor was used to detect the pressure on the sensor. However, it seems to have a limitation because even if I press hard enough, the motor does not move more after a certain amount of movement. The load cell can be used to produce weighing machines or weighing meters.

/*
  Knock Sensor
*/


// these constants won't change:
const int ledPin = 13;      // LED connected to digital pin 13
const int knockSensor = A0; // the piezo is connected to analog pin 0
const int threshold = 100;  // threshold value to decide when the detected sound is a knock or not


// these variables will change:
int sensorReading = 0;      // variable to store the value read from the sensor pin
int ledState = LOW;         // variable used to store the last LED status, to toggle the light

void setup() {
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // declare the ledPin as as OUTPUT
  Serial.begin(9600);       // use the serial port
}

void loop() {
  // read the sensor and store it in the variable sensorReading:
  sensorReading = analogRead(knockSensor);

  // if the sensor reading is greater than the threshold:
  if (sensorReading >= threshold) {
    // toggle the status of the ledPin:
    ledState = !ledState;
    // update the LED pin itself:
    digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);
    // send the string "Knock!" back to the computer, followed by newline
    Serial.println("Knock!");
  }
  delay(100);  // delay to avoid overloading the serial port buffer
}

The fourth circuit contains an element that acts as the handle of a game controller. However, because the relationship between the input and output in this circuit is linear, the output of the motor is nearly the same, only rocking from side to side, although the thumbstick can be rolled in all directions. Of course, this sensor can be used to produce game controllers.

#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo;
int val;
void setup() {
  myservo.attach(9);
}
void loop() {
  val = analogRead(A0);
  val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 180);
  myservo.write(val);
  delay(15);
}

Q2：

From my perspective, code plays a critical role in making circuits work, especially for some complex circuits. The code is like a commander that makes sure the inputs and outputs work well and meet the needs. It’s like a tutorial or recipe because we can learn from the code which pins we need to connect or which components we need. This is not only a guide for us but also for the components on the breadboard, which work according to the instructions given by the code to do a complete job.

Q3:

Computers have been integrated into our daily life. It provides us with many conveniences, for example, we no longer need to go to books to find certain reference materials, instead, we can just look them up online, which saves a lot of time. In addition, with computers, it is much easier for us to keep in touch with our friends and family. What’s more， according to The Language of New Media, the creation of computers will do a great change to the new media. “All new media objects, whether created from scratch on computers or converted from analog media sources, are composed of digital code; they are numerical representations.” It does bring a lot of changes to our lives, but we need to be careful when dealing with these changes because there are some negative effects. Data can be computed and analyzed in milliseconds, leading to human dependence and laziness on computers. Even simple calculations will be more inclined to rely on computers. Second, the speed of news dissemination of all kinds is accelerated due to computers, leading to the fragmentation of people’s time.