TASK 1: Build the circuits
Step1
The circuit we built allows a buzzer to beep after pressing the button switch. Once we press the button, the flow went through the wire and went to the buzzer, so the buzzer could bake a buzzing sound. This circuit allows us to send Morse code with the sound.
The circuit did not work at first, and it was because we didn’t realize that the metal was in a line at the back of the breadboard. We did not connect the wire with the buzzer, instead, we put the wire and the buzzer in different lines. My partner and I could not find out the reason why it didn’t work. We turned to the assistant for help, and she showed us how the breadboard works. Then we were able to connect the circuit in the right way.
My partner and I looked through the diagram showed on the website, and we connected the battery to the plug on the wall. Then we put an end of the wire into the positive hole, the other end in a hole which was in the same line with the buzzer. Next, we connected the entire circuit in this way. Eventually, we put the end of the last wire to the negative hole, and when we pressed the button, the buzzer got to beep.
Step 2
The next step, we connected the LED light to the circuit. The LED lights got on once we pressed the button switch. After the flow passed through the battery and wire, it went to another branch circuit where the resistor and the LED were at.
We put another wire to the positive hole to build a branch circuit. The wire is connected to the LED light and the resistor. Everything went smoothly, and nothing failed. The light was turned on every time we pressed the button.
Step 3
The last step of building the circuit was to build another branch circuit with a resistor, a potentiometer and a LED light (LED2). The current flow passed these three items, and went back to the negative pole of the battery. And that is how it worked for the whole circuit.
In the third step, we made a mistake that we put the two poles of the LED2 into the same line. We knew that the LED2 was supposed to be on all the time, but it never turned on. We couldn’t find out the solution, so we asked the assistance for help. We found out that the current flowed to the metal line under the breadboard instead of the LED2, as the resistance of the LED2 is much higher than that of the metal under the breadboard. So we put one of the pole to another roll of breadboard, and it worked.
The whole circuit worked in this way: Once we press the button, the buzzer is going to beep a buzzing sound and the LED will get on to show the character of Morse code. In the meantime, the LED2 was on all the time to show the whole machine is on.
TASK 2: Build a switch
Professor Rudi taught us about how to make a cardboard-made switch to replace the button switch.
That was my first time working in a lab with those tools I have never seen before. I learnt how to use the hot melt pen to melt the metal to stick it on the cardboard. The pen was burning hot, which made my partner feeling hard to hold. At first, we did not melt the metal completely, and the wire did not stick on the tape. And then professor Rudi came to help us to heat up the metal a little bit longer. Even though our switch was not that pretty, I would say this switch worked well.
Task 3: Switch the switches and send a message
In task 3, we replaced the button switch with the newly DIY paddle switch. Everything went smoothly that the circuits worked well without failures. We tried to switch off, the buzzer beeped and the LED was on.
Then my partner and I decided to send the four-letter word “help” to the team on the table next to us. We tried to send the different letters with the sound, and the team next to us decoded our word. Then, they send back the word.
Additional Required Questions:
1.The resistors could limit the flow of current, protecting the LED from damage.
2.
3. The device we made interacted with us in listening, thinking and speaking to us, and so did us. We thought about what we wanted to express through the Morse code, and we “spoke” to the machine DIY switch, this was regarded as “input” as well. And then, the device would “listen” to what we input, and thought about that a little bit, then “speak” it with sound and light. Next, we human could receive the message it transmitted, and we were able to continue a new round of thinking, speaking and listening, so do the circuit.
I think this could be called low degree interactivity. It is sending the Morse code do not required us to think deeply and listen carefully, and human beings are much more intelligent than a simple circuit, which means, the circuit was just a tool for sending messages, not a partner who could share our thoughts sincerely. That is not a high level interactivity.
4. According to Zack Lieberman’s video, the group designed the eye tagger to draw pictures with their eyeballs moving via the 30-dollar camera. The idea of drawing with eyeballs and show the image is the idea of interaction design, and the camera, screen and the building are the physical computing they used. Zack’s team combined the idea and devices to create interactive art. Once we combined a great interactive idea with a efficient media, we would make our work useful for people who need that.