Archives for October 2020

Recitation 5: Processing Basic by Rain

October 31, 2020 by Dianyu Lin

The description I chose as my motif is the second one. It attracts me as it shapes an elegant swan with simple lines and shapes. Then I was inspired to also draw a swan. Considering the motif is organized in black and white, I want to design my work as a colorful one.

Similar to the motif, my final creation outlines the swan with simple but clear lines and shapes. I also use the concept of cutting lines behind the swan, though in a more colorful way. The cutting rectangular definitely helps to bring more change to my creation.

The code I used is as follows:

int[] coords={240,132,280,140,60,540,80,600};
void setup(){
  size(700,1000);
  color c = color(160,60,60);
  background(c);
  fill(245);
  ellipse(220,80,180,100);
  fill(245);
  rect(0,620,700,500);
  line(80,600,0,820);
  line(310,80,260,280);
  line(400,619,700,750);
  line(300,60,350,30);
  line(266,40,310,0);
  fill(c);
  ellipse(120,620,70,90);
  ellipse(120,620,32,56);
  ellipse(193,624,50,66);
  ellipse(193,626,28,35);
  ellipse(260,630,54,85);
  ellipse(260,636,27,48);
  ellipse(115,760,90,116);
  ellipse(115,770,45,64);
  ellipse(235,776,96,173);
  ellipse(235,794,56,120);
  ellipse(540,820,80,160);
  ellipse(540,840,56,98);
  ellipse(350,700,72,98);
  ellipse(344,710,36,62);
  ellipse(620,870,53,80);
  ellipse(625,880,26,40);
  arc(403,422,400,400,HALF_PI,PI+QUARTER_PI);
  beginShape();
   beginShape();
  curveVertex(240, 132); // 
  curveVertex(240, 132); // 
  curveVertex(280, 140);
  curveVertex(60, 540);
  curveVertex(80, 600);
  curveVertex(80, 600); // 
  endShape();
  fill(255, 0, 0);
  noStroke();
  for (int i = 0; i < coords.length; i += 2) {
    ellipse(coords[i], coords[i + 1], 3, 3);
  }
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(120,620,70,90);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(120,620,32,56);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(193,624,50,66);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(193,626,28,35);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(260,630,54,85);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(260,636,27,48);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(115,760,90,116);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(115,770,45,64);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(235,776,96,173);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(235,794,56,120);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(540,820,80,160);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(540,840,56,98);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(350,700,72,98);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(344,710,36,62);
  fill(20,40,200);
  ellipse(620,870,53,80);
  fill(0,200,180);
  ellipse(625,880,26,40);
 
  

}

In today’s work, I’m quite satisfied with the specific style of a little discordant and mechanical works in my creation. I think under certain context drawing in Processing can be a good means of realizing my design, but it’s not always the best way. What I learnt from this work is that, things easily done by human can be extremely complicated if you ask the computer to do the same. But also, this kind of difficulty and unnatural feelings can be a unique style of your creation at the same time.

Recitation 4: Drawing Machines by Rain

October 19, 2020 by Dianyu Lin

During this recitation, we tried to build a drawing machine.

The most challenging part in the whole process must be using the function map to match the movement of the knob with the rotation of the motor. It requires a calculation on mapping the knob’s moving angle to motor’s rotating angle.

Followed is the final code we use:

/*
 * MotorKnob
 *
 * A stepper motor follows the turns of a potentiometer
 * (or other sensor) on analog input 0.
 *
 * http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Stepper
 * This example code is in the public domain.
 */

#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 = map(analogRead(0),0,1023,0,128);

  // 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;
}

And it’s not accurate enough that there are still some angles it couldn’t cover.

Although it’s just simple movement made by the machine, but how to communicate with a machine using a language much different from what we familiar with in daily life is definitely not easy, and the process is absolutely inspiring.

Q&A

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.

I want to build a machine which can turn my words into animated picture when I say something that I want to record to it. It should contain a speaker to receive and recording my voice, and digital processing core to transform my voice into animate, together with projector which can show the final pictures.

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 art installation attracting me is the Drumming Subhuman. It’s a computer-controlled robot who is able to perform drumming by imitate human’s movement.

The drawing machine we built in class seems much simpler than the robot, but still the drawing machine cost us much time trying to build up communicating connection and control circuit, no mention the difficulty of the robot. And also the robot is intelligent and is able to create lyrics, which create a special form of art, but our drawing machine is still controlled by human’s will.

To select appropriate actuators for the installation, first of all the artists should be clear about what function they what for their installation, then match it with specific actuators. And the process acquire transition and combination, to use basic actuators achieving difficult function. Such as to imitate hands’ movement while drumming, they need physical connections like bones and muscle controlled by motor, and sensors helping to control the speed while the hands drop and bounce.

Recitation 3: Sensors by Rain

October 11, 2020 by Dianyu Lin

During Recitation

Our recitations always surprise me with more and more fancy techniques to be learnt, so does my experience with sensors.

Firstly, we built a Joy Stick circuit.

We connect the Joy Stick to our servo, then we can use the stick to control the movement of the it. I thought the programming of it can be much similar to the code when we use the variable resister to control the servo, so I use the code from servo: knob for reference.

Following is the code:

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo

int potpin = 0;  // analog pin used to connect the potentiometer
int val;    // variable to read the value from the analog pin

void setup() {
  myservo.attach(9);  // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
}

void loop() {
  val = analogRead(potpin);            // reads the value of the potentiometer (value between 0 and 1023)
  val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 180);     // scale it to use it with the servo (value between 0 and 180)
  myservo.write(val);                  // sets the servo position according to the scaled value
  delay(15);                           // waits for the servo to get there
}

And the Graph:

Then in the extra time we tried the second sensor: Infrared Distance Sensor. I tried to make it be able to control the brightness of the LED. Still, the core of the coding part is similar to using the variable resister to control the servo in 7^th lecture.

The code is as followed:

int val = 1; // a variable
void setup() {
  pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  val = analogRead(1);
  analogWrite(9, val / 4);
}

Answers for Document 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?

I’ve assembled sensors with LED and servo. When I connected infrared distance sensor with LED, I think it can be made into a secure system. As people step closer to the sensor, the lights grow brighter to call the owner’s attention. It can be used by people living along or the secure system of museums. Also, when the joystick and servo is combined, it can be used as a part of model helicopter or submarine, then the models can be controlled by child or other owners.

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

There are fixed grammar and format for code, so coding is just like following recipe. And also, there’ve been many excellent coding examples released in open source platform like Arduino, which are well-designed and easy to access, saving a bunch of time struggling with code and bugs, so that it’s easy to literarily following a tutorial. However, code is just like the language of computer, and its charm largely lies in the process in which you try to communicate with your device, and that’s what totally beyond following a recipe.

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?

Computer, as an extremely convenient devices, has made human spend more and more time on dealing with staff on computer, and that finally reduce the time we spent in real life experience and face to face conversation. So I think computer influences our behaviors by cutting into people’s connection, being the medium of people’s work and communicate by force. So that we’re more and more relying on life with computer, because once we stop using it, all the connection between ourselves with friends and works will be cut off.

Group Research Project-final post by Rain

October 11, 2020 by Dianyu Lin

Our performance

The Idea We Present

Our group’s ambition is to create a parking lot which is able to flipped automatically when the car stops at the site. It’s associated with the context of Folding Beijing, where there are different spaces on the ground and underground. When the car flipped with the parking lot, they are entering the other reverse space, such that the parking lot can serve as a channel connecting two different worlds. Also, as Folding Beijing mentioned, when the city on the ground is awake, cities underneath the ground is fallen into sleep, which allow more spaces left for cars flipped from the upper side. We think it’s a great way to make the best of efficiency for space and time.

How Our Idea Associate to “Interaction”?

I’ve defined interaction as a circulating communication process, and I think the parking lot we designed has completed this kind of circuit. When we park our car to the site, it’s an input message that tells the parking lot that we want our car parked. So that the parking lot received the message and respond as it flipped it self, sending the car into another space. This result serves as an output received by ourselves, so the circuit completed. And if we suddenly want our cars back, we can send another massage to the parking lot, and the circulating process just goes on and on. There are silent communications between users and the parking lot, that’s where lies our identification of “Interaction”.

What I’ve done, What I’ve met, What I’ve received

Inspired by the “folding” concept in Folding Beijing, the initiate idea of our group is to make a simple flipped parking lot, but as that design seems to have no much different from the existed underground parking lot, so I suggest to make it a channel connecting two space in Folding Beijing. It’s not easy to perform such a large concept without any help of technology, but when we finally made it, I realized what matters most is always your IDEA.

How I thought of Our Artifact

Since the parking lot we want to design is huge, one of the big problems is how to use a smaller and simpler model to present it. With the help of magnet, I think the final effect is satisfying. Also, thanks to everyone’s effort to decorate the artifact, we finally turn it from a shabby cardboard box to a fancy building may appear in the future. Nevertheless, I think it would be better if it can express our imagination of connecting two different world.

Reflect on Peer’s Performance

The last group present with a machine which can take smells away leaves me a deep impression. They come up with the idea by the description from Folding Beijing in which Laodao is worried about his smell, and they want to create such a machine that can turn the smell into solid items and then recycled. Their performance is easy to understand that they make two sellers experiment their invention on Laodao that takes away the smell on his body. The artifact they design is extremely fancy. They brilliantly use the LED bulb to show the process the machine turning smells in to solid. However, though the idea of turning gas into solid is creative, I think there’s no much “interaction” present in their performance. People are just simply use the machine, instead of communicate with it. That’s a little pity, but they’ve already done a good job.