Step 1: 

Step 2:

#include <Stepper.h>

// change this to the number of steps on your motor
#define STEPS 200

// create an instance of the stepper class, specifying
// the number of steps of the motor and the pins it's
// attached to
Stepper stepper(STEPS, 8, 9, 10, 11);

// the previous reading from the analog input
int previous = 0;

void setup() {
  // set the speed of the motor to 30 RPMs
  stepper.setSpeed(30);
}

void loop() {
  // get the sensor value
  int val = analogRead(0);
  val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 127);
  // move a number of steps equal to the change in the
  // sensor reading
  stepper.step(val - previous);

  // remember the previous value of the sensor
  previous = val;
}

Step 3:

 

Question 1: What kind of machines would you be interested in building? Add a reflection about the use of actuators, the digital manipulation of art, and the creative process to your blog post.

Based on the drawing machine, I would like to build a curving machine. It means we only need to use the resistor to do very small changes and then the two motors will make the arms attached curve a much larger object. I may use step motors, longer arms, nails that can attach arms together and a laser cutter or a specially made graver.

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?

I’m very interested in Feral Robot Dogs designed by Natalie Jeremijenko. This robot dog is environmentally friendly and it is like a detective that can sense pollution then warn people by jumping and barking. This invention and me and my partner’s drawing machine are both interactive. We changed vary the status of our variable resistor to input and the Arduino processed the data to map with the step motor, which was an output. For the robot dog, its chemical sensor can sense special elements in the environment. Then it processes and makes its motor spin to let the dog move and make sound. These two whole processes are a bit different from each other but their outputs are the same. The artist needs some special sensors like chemical sensor, smoke sensor, humidity sensor, etc. 

Answers to the Questions

Question 1: What did you intend to assemble in the recitation exercise? If your sensor/actuator combination were to be used for pragmatic purposes, who would use it, why would they use it, and how could it be used?

Joystick Module:

 

I intended to assemble an interactive device, including the Joystick Module, that can reflect data of x-axis and y-axis to locate the stick as I move it. With a pragmatic purpose, if the Joystick module is connected to an electric wheelchair, it can be used to control the wheelchair. The data of the stick’s movement will be transferred to the center and then will be used to turn the wheels. Disabled people or elders can easily use the stick to adjust the wheel to move without rolling the wheels with a lot of strength. 

 
void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(9600);
}
 
void loop()
{
    int sensorValue1 = analogRead(A0);
    int sensorValue2 = analogRead(A1);
 
    Serial.print("The X and Y coordinate is:");
    Serial.print(sensorValue1, DEC);
    Serial.print(",");
    Serial.println(sensorValue2, DEC);
    Serial.println(" ");
    delay(200);
}

 

 

 Ultrasonic Ranger

I hoped I could build a circuit that can show the distance between an object and this sensor. In real life, I think it can be set on the street and then be used to measure the speed of a vehicle to secure traffic safety. Since the ultrasonic range can show the distance so it’s easy to get the velocity if we know the time.

// this constant won't change. It's the pin number of the sensor's output:
const int pingPin = 7;

void setup() {
  // initialize serial communication:
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  // establish variables for duration of the ping, and the distance result
  // in inches and centimeters:
  long duration, inches, cm;

  // The PING))) is triggered by a HIGH pulse of 2 or more microseconds.
  // Give a short LOW pulse beforehand to ensure a clean HIGH pulse:
  pinMode(pingPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(5);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);

  // The same pin is used to read the signal from the PING))): a HIGH pulse
  // whose duration is the time (in microseconds) from the sending of the ping
  // to the reception of its echo off of an object.
  pinMode(pingPin, INPUT);
  duration = pulseIn(pingPin, HIGH);

  // convert the time into a distance
  inches = microsecondsToInches(duration);
  cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration);

  Serial.print(inches);
  Serial.print("in, ");
  Serial.print(cm);
  Serial.print("cm");
  Serial.println();

  delay(100);
}

long microsecondsToInches(long microseconds) {
  // According to Parallax's datasheet for the PING))), there are 73.746
  // microseconds per inch (i.e. sound travels at 1130 feet per second).
  // This gives the distance travelled by the ping, outbound and return,
  // so we divide by 2 to get the distance of the obstacle.
  // See: http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/acc/28015-PING-v1.3.pdf
  return microseconds / 74 / 2;
}

long microsecondsToCentimeters(long microseconds) {
  // The speed of sound is 340 m/s or 29 microseconds per centimeter.
  // The ping travels out and back, so to find the distance of the object we
  // take half of the distance travelled.
  return microseconds / 29 / 2;
}

 

Question 2: Code is often compared to following a recipe or tutorial.  Why do you think that is?

On a personal level, I think for a computer, code is like a tutorial that instructs it to reach a task step by step, a way of us telling it what to do. For example, we let the LED “blink” or I may say to turn it on for a second and then turn it off for one second, repeatedly, in our previous seminar class. The code makes the computer first set a digital pin as an output,  puts a high voltage on the LED, then rests, puts a low voltage, rests again. The computer does what the “blink” code says and makes spark repeatedly.

Question 3: In Language of New Media, Manovich describes the influence of computers on new media. In what ways do you believe the computer influences our human behaviors?

Computers mainly play the role as “helpers”. So firstly, it let us go out less, since we can get things done remotely by computers, especially when we have the Internet, which is really convenient. Secondly, with keyboard, we type rather than hand-writing. Thirdly, it brought out many other things like the Internet and AI, so that they boost economic growth, military development, etc. Those are the three ways that I think of now, there are certainly a lot more influences.