Task

Step 1: Build the circuit

Schematic 

Video

Process

The first step was very easy although it needed to be completed individually. I just connected the circuits and components according to the schematic. Despite the large number of circuits, I used different colors to differentiate them and checked again to make sure that I didn’t leave out anything. 

Step 2: Control rotation with a potentiometer

Video

Process

The problem I met was the connection of potentiometer. Because I could’t remember whether it needs to be connected to the ground, so I turned to an assistant for help and recalled that it’s unpolarized. Then I added a map function to the former code but I’m not sure if it’s all, luckily, it worked.

Step 3: Build a Drawing Machine!

Video

Final Picture

Question 

Why did my serial monitor display so slow?

Questions

1.I would be interested in building a thermostatic bottle which can keep the water temperature constant. The actuator it uses is a temperature regulator. After the temperature transducer senses the current temperature, it would be displayed on the screen. You can decide and input your targeted temperature, then the temperature regulator will start working. Moreover, the color of the bottle can change smoothly according to the current temperature of water. For example, blue for below 10 and red for above 50 and the middle will be purple using special material.

2. The art installation impressed me is Nicholas Stedman’s Blanket Project. When I see the blanket approaching the boy, somehow I feel moved. Compared to our drawing machine which only has one actuator, “the autonomous robotic blanket contains thirty-one motorized joints which allow it to assume many shapes, some optimized for movement and others for touching and stimulating people.” I think the artist selected these actuators because human beings’ movement can be diverse and irregular, so he used large amounts of different sensors and actuators.

Reference List

ART+Science NOW, Stephen Wilson (Kinetics chapter)

 

The sensor we chose is the moisture sensor. After picking it, we were confused at first about its connection because my partner thought that according to the link, there should be a base shield. But I believed that it can be directly connected to electric wires. She turned to a learning assistant and it proved that I was right, so we tried it without actuator first. We hold the moisture sensor in turn and it worked( the figure on serial monitor kept changing).

Next we added an LED as well as a 220 ohm resistor to the circuit and changed the code a little bit. I have to admit that I’m not good at coding, so it’s my partner that revised it.

However, after uploading the code to Arduino, we found that the LED didn’t light up. At first, I found that the humidity of my partner’s hand is lower than 100, so we we asked another one to try, but it still didn’t work. Then my partner checked our code, but didn’t find the mistake until a learning assistant came and pointed out that our code was incomplete without the pinMode function. We all thought that was where the problem lay. Surprising, the light still didn’t light up. At last, I proposed to change the LED for another one. And it should worked! So actually our former LED was broken too. Anyway, we succeeded at last.

Questions

1.  We intended to assemble a moisture detector which lights up when the moisture is greater than 100 and lights off when the moisture is less than 100. If my sensor/actuator combination were to be used for pragmatic purposes, I think peasants would be its users. Because for farmers, it’s often the case that the crops die of drought or waterlog, resulting in a severe economic lost . By inserting the moisture sensor in soil, they could detect the soil moisture content easily and take corresponding measures in time. 

2.  Code is the intermediary of human languages and computer languages, it enables the instructions given by human beings to be implemented by computers. So it’s like a recipe or tutorial for computers.

3. I think the computer encourages communications. With more and more social platforms popping up, we can easily have a chat with strangers who may come from the opposite side of the earth. And we can also bring our wisdom together when facing academic problems or political problems.

Tasks

• Circuit 1: Fade

Schematic

Video

Process

Before I started building the circuit, I asked my partner Caren if she’d like to connect it to my computer because I wanted to practice coding and she agreed. But then I found I just needed to open the code in Examples. I thought it was easy, but Caren reminded me to select the proper Boarder and Port which I forgot to do. Thanks to her. All other things just run smoothly because this circuit only consisted very few components. We connected them according to the schematic.

• Circuit 2: toneMelody

Schematic

Video

Process

This circuit was also done smoothly because it is similar to Circuit 1. But during the process we didn’t unplug the adapter and one teaching assistant came to warn us. Well, I will pay attention to it next time. 

• Circuit 3: Speed Game

Schematic

Video

Process

To be honest, this circuit was a total mess. When we finally finished building it, there popped up a prompted box saying something used too much power. Anyhow, it didn’t work. So we turned to that teaching assistant. He unplugged the adapter and found it hot, then he checked our messy cables carefully and found one electric wire connected the power source to ground and formed a short circuit. He also helped us unplug 2 useless wires to simplify our circuit. I think the cause of our false is our terrible division of labour and messy order of connecting components, which need to be arranged reasonably next time.

Questions

1. Nowadays, technology has penetrated into our daily lives and no one can live without it. There are so many examples, household appliances, vehicles, PCs, smart phones, etc. But what we have access to in our daily lives are mostly multimedia computers and intermediate computers, which have strong output functions but low input functions. When we build the circuits in interaction lab, we can use Arduino, which belongs to another type of computer: Microcontroller. It can “capture and convey a person’s expression”apart from “trying to imitate the autonomy of human beings” so that “the gap between the physical world and the virtual world” can be bridged.

2. If I have 100000 LEDs of any brightness and color at my disposal, I would like to open an LED art gallery where innumerable “celebrated paintings” all over the world composed of LEDs were exhibited here. They can not only change from one painting to another everyday, but also turn static paintings into dynamic ones with some creative ideas. Although it’s of no practical use, but it can be a tourist attraction which becomes different everyday.

Reference

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uviCK0V71cQpA76PV9PK03Df14vcsd0y/view

Materials and functions:

• 1 * Breadboard      Provide a base for making electronic connections and aid in the prototyping of circuits.
• 1 * LM7805 Voltage Regulator    Maintain a constant voltage level. Make the output voltage 5V for other components to work safely.
• 1 * Buzzer      An audio signaling device.We can tell if the circuit works by listening to it.
• 1 * Push-Button Switch      Be used to interrupt the flow of current through a circuit. We use it to control(turn on/off) the buzz and the LED.
• 1 * Arcade Button     Be used to interrupt the flow of current through a circuit. We use it in soldering. Actually it’s an alternative of push-button switch.
• 1 * 220 ohm Resistor      Resist the flow of electricity to control the flow of current. It protects the LED from burning out.
• 1 * LED      A visible light source. We can tell if the circuit works by looking at it.
• 1 * 100 nF (0.1uF) Capacitor      Store electricity while current is flowing into them, then release the energy when the incoming current is removed. (Question: I still don’t know why it is included in circuits and in parallel with other loads)
• 1 * 10K ohm Variable Resistor (Potentiometer)      A resistor whose resistance can be adjusted. We use it to change the degree of LED brightness.
• 1 * 12 volt power supply      Provide the power for other components to work. It( 12V DC) was translated from 220V AC and then to 5V DC.
• 1 * Barrel Jack      It connects the power supply with the breadboard.
• 1 * Multimeter      Be able to measure the electrical properties of voltage, current and resistance. They are useful for testing circuits and determine the cause of electrical problems within a circuit. We use it to measure the resistance to find a 220 ohm resistor out of others.
• Several Jumper Cables (Hook-up Wires)      Be used to carry electricity from one point to another. We use it to connect different electrical components.

Tasks

• Circuit 1

diagram

video

process    

 Actually, this was my first time to build a circuit, although I had previewed some readings, I still got confused at first. So did my partner Sarah. So she asked a teaching fellow for help. The fellow almost helped us through the whole course. The first problem we confronted is about  the resistors . We measured several resistors with the multimeter. But their resistance were all 10 ohm. At last we found one 220- ohm resistor with the help of the fellow.

• Circuit 2

diagram

video

process

In this task, we added a new component: switch. But after we finished building the circuit and pressed the button on the switch, it didn’t work because the LED was always on. With the help of the teaching fellow we found out that we actually put the switch in the wrong place, so it was always connected. Later we put it across the middle line of the breadboard. 

• Circuit 3

diagram

video

process

We built this circuit quite successfully and smoothly, just by adding a potentiometer on the basis of task two.

• Soldering

picture

process

My partner Sarah tried to solder the Arcade Button with the red electric wire first, and the teaching fellow( another) emphasized that we should use the side of the tip of the iron instead of the very tip and scratch the soldering iron in the box when that part turns dim. But when I tired to solder the Arcade Button with the black electric wire, it still turned to be difficult to feed the melting roll of solder into the contact point. Anyway, I made it.

Answers to questions:

 1. In “The Art of Interactive Design”, the author generalizes the notion of the conversation as an interactive process to any human interaction and condensed it to three steps: listen, think, and speak (in turn). Academically, it’s input, process and output. From my perspective, the circuits we built do include interactivity because they can respond to our deeds like clicking the button of switch and changing the resistance of potentiometer by turning on and off the buzz/LED and changing the degree of LED brightness. But it’s also of low interactivity like the example of refrigerator light given by the author.

2. In Zach Lieberman’s video, the most impressive project for me is EyeWriter designed for paralyzed graffiti writer Tony. Their team created low-cost eye-tracking softwares and hardwares( connecting IR LEDs, micro CCD CAM, etc to sunglasses with copper wires and wire ties ), the result was quite pleasant that Tony could write graffiti and polish his works with his eyeballs, and his graffiti was even shadowed to the building.In my opinion, Interaction Design is the inner inspiration and Physical Computing is the technical basis for the design to be operated successfully. Interactive Art is created by the combination of the two.

Reference list:

Class 02 / Feb 14 Thu / Electricity, Electrical Components & Circuits

The Art of Interactive Design

Zach Lieberman’s video