Week 3 Recitation
Circuit Building Process
For this week’s recitation, my partner Kyle and I chose to work with the joystick module. Our original idea was to create a circuit with which we could use the joystick to control the color of an LED. When we saw how the data on the serial monitor changed depending on which direction the joystick was moved in, we hoped to build a circuit connection in which each direction the joystick was moved in would make the LED turn a different color. We used the flash cards that were in our kits as the basic foundation of our circuit. We tried out a number of different preset codes that were available on Arduino, including Fade and Blink. Professor Rudi helped us find a code online which we could build off of to create the code for our circuit. Because we wanted to make the LED change color according to the data inputted by the joystick movement, we had to map the analog input and create and “if” “then” code which would connect the joystick input to the LED output. Completing the circuit and finishing this code was the most complicated thing we had done in this class thus far, and we utilized the entirety of class time to complete it. After a series of trial and errors, we were able to successfully finish the circuit.
Question 1
We intended to assemble a circuit in which the movement of a joystick controlled the color of an LED. With respect to pragmatic purposes, our circuit could be used in an interactive art exhibit, in which viewers can change the color of the LED’s used to assemble it. Otherwise, our circuit could also be used in a home or work setting, where the color of lights/lamps can be adjusted according to the event, situation, or outdoor lighting (like from cool to warm lighting).
Question 2
A circuit I use in my daily life is turning the lights in my dorm room on/off. My circuit could be integrated into this interaction so that I could change the lighting in my room from cool to warm/vice-versa, perhaps making the light cooler when the warm light of the sun is shining through the window, and warmer when there is no external light source.
Question 3
Code is similar to following a recipe/tutorial because, when writing a code, you have to take very specific steps in a very specific order in order to successfully complete it. There are certain terms which are used in code which have to be integrated into the coding process, just like how a tutorial outlines certain terms and steps which need to be taken.
Question 4
Computers make humans less independent by giving them an easy option for solving mathematical problems and answering questions, which would otherwise need to be figured out by one’s own mind or through extensive physical research. Given this, however, computers also expedite human behaviors by making them more efficient; whenever there is something someone doesn’t know, they don’t have to go through a time-consuming trial and error process, but can instead just look it up on the internet.