Author: jf3760

Infrared Distance Sensor

Components

a buzzer

a breadboard

a Arduino uno

Jumper cables

a infrared distance sensor

Process

we use the speaker as the output. When a person gets closer to the sensor, the sound of the speaker becomes louder; vice versa. For coding, we refer to https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/math/map/.

Also, to see the changing output clearly, I added “Serial.println ()”.

Diagram

Moisture Sensor

Components

a buzzer

a breadboard

a Arduino uno

Jumper cables

a moisture sensor

Process

Since the moisture sensor and the infrared distance work in a similar way, we basically replaced the infrared distance sensor with the moisture sensor.

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?

I intended to assemble a infrared distance sensor in the recitation exercise. As a person gets closer to the sensor, the buzzer speaks louder. If my sensor combination is to be used for pragmatic purposes, I suppose shop-owners would like to use it. During daytime, this circuit help them to know if customers are coming; during nighttime, it keeps them alert to thieves. Whenever customers step into the zone where the sensor can tell, it then make a piece of music to show welcomeness. After the shop is closed, the sensor makes warning noice if anyone tries to get close to the commodities on the shelves.

Question 2:

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

There are both similarities and difference between code and following a recipe or tutorial. While the recipe or tutorial tell people what to do in a simple, understandable language, code use another language and needs translation so that people can understand. Since the object of code is computers while that of the recipe is human beings. Code must be more precise than a recipe. For instance, language like “a little” can be used in a recipe, but will not work in coding. The instruction computers receive must be formal (mathematical). However, both coding and recipes are instructive. Through code, people tell computer what to do; through recipe or tutorial, people are told what to do. 

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?

As computers permeate into human’s daily life, people adapt their behaviors to the use of computers. For instance, people’s use of language change due to the spread of social media. And people’s relation becomes more reliable on computers. However, I do not consider it as unidirectional. People surely influence the computers. When designing computers, people unconsciously implant contemporary beliefs. Therefore, I believe that computer influences our human behaviors in many aspects and vice versa.

Circuit 1: Fade

components

1 * Arduino Uno

1 * USB A to B cable

1 * breadboard

1 * LED

1 * 220 ohm resistor

Jumper cables

Process and Problems

It worked…But what did it mean???

The process of building up the circuit went quite smooth until we were confused by the two wires connecting separately from the anode to the anode and from the cathode to the cathode. We did as what the instructing image told us but remained curious about the reason. By interpreting this image carefully and asking around, we got the answer that this was for connecting batteries.

Circuit 2: toneMelody

components

1 * Arduino Uno

1 * USB A to B cable

1 * breadboard

1 * buzzer

Jumper cables

Process and Problems

We were happy to find that we did not even need to connect the pushbutton into the circuit. However, I was then confused by the question that whether I could directly connect the buzzer to the Arduino Uno with two wires. What was the point of first connecting to the anode of the breadboard then to the buzzer? At last, we found we actually only needed two wires directly connected between the Arduino Uno and the buzzer.

Circuit 3: Speed Game

components

1 * Arduino Uno

1 * USB A to B cable

1 * breadboard

1 * buzzer

2 * LEDs

2 * 220 ohm resistors

2 * 10K ohm resistors

2 * pushbuttons

Jumper cables

Process and Problems

An easy way to distinguish 10Ω & 220Ω？

When we were building the circuit, we had to use multimeters for several times to distinguish different resistors. It was just too cumbersome. Could there be a simpler way to distinguish them? Definitely. Just look at the colors (hope I am not the last one to know). The one with two orange strips is 220Ω, while the one with only one orange strip is 10Ω. Knowing this saved us much time testing the resistor repeatedly. 

Some thoughts on how to find out the reason for not-working circuit

Before the circuit could operate successfully, we tried hard to figure out the reasons for each failure. At first, it was because we mistook the resistors. Then, it was because we missed a wire to the Ground. For our last failure, it was just due to a broken LED. We had the mindset that the reason should be complex, thus, we tended to check our code and arrangement of electronics as soon as something went wrong. However, as we had learned, though basic these problems were, the states of the electronics and the completeness of the whole circuit should be the priority to check.

Circuit 4: Four-player Speed Game

Process and Problems

After finish Circuit 3, my partner and I teamed up with another group of two, trying to build a four-player speed game. Connecting two circuits for the two-player speed game, we moved all the wires for input and output to one Arduino Uno, and canceled the extra buzzer. 

Why Player 4 remained missing???

The circuit seemed to work well the first we tried. However, we soon recognized the problem that player 4 only had one output during the whole time, which was impossible. Too many wires made it extremely hard to figure out which represented player 4, so we checked by running a code for lightening up the LED separately. Finally, we found two of the four circuits had problems. Checking the connection and the electronics, we only managed to make one of them work. 

Why another LED went on???

With one of the four circuits not working, we decided to operate it as a three-player speed game (75% of the goal achieved). After a tense speed game, as you can see in the video, the LED supposed to connect to the winner gave no reaction. Instead, the opposite LED went on even though nobody had pressed the button. Excluding supernatural reasons, we took a guess that it might just because these two LEDs were connected into each other’s circuit. 

Answers to the questions

Question 1:

Reflect how you use technology in your daily life and on the circuits you just built. Use the text Physical Computing and your own observations to define interaction.

For me, technology can be divided into two parts. one is the complex theory of how to get things work, while the other part is the presentation of what it can help people to achieve. In my daily life, I seldom think about the hidden theory part, focusing what I can do with the help of technology. For instance, I create arts through apps in my phone and take tidy notes via my laptop. With the similar attitude, when I was building the circuits, I did not try to figure out answers to questions like what was the mechanics in separative electronics. Instead, I put those electronics together through rather simple connection in order to make them work together. In other words, I did not invent technology, I utilized and combined invented technology.

This leads to my definition of interaction. In my view, interaction is combing ideas and abilities from different sources to provide more possibilities. In the text Physical Computing, it writes that “Author and game programmer Chris Crawford has a great definition for it: interaction is ‘an iterative process of listening, thinking and speaking between two or more objects.’ (4)”. Specifically in the situation where human beings use technology, people are able to imagine more freely without worrying about details on how to make each part of their imagination come true. Human beings are responsible for putting present technology together to solidify their ideas. therefore, interaction promotes the combination of ideas and abilities, to create something new without inventing anything new.

Question 2:

If you have 100,000 LEDs of any brightness and color at your disposal, what would you make and where would you put it?

I would like to start a LED-themed coffee shop which opens 7/24. It has several separate rooms whose walls are covered by LEDs. The LEDs are able to imitate any level of daylight to provide a comforting working environment. This coffee shop is specially for those who need to keep awake to fight for deadlines or who are strict about the light level while working. Customers can modify the color and the brightness of the room to fit their needs. Since they could have access to all the LEDs in their room, they can decide what the atmosphere of the room is like.