Author: zw1806

This is our Fade circuit

This is our tone melody circuit.

This is our speed game 

This speed game circuit would be the most complicated circuit we had built since taking Inter lab. It requires well understanding of how Arduino works, including the Analog In part and the connections between different components. We spent some time to understand how the circuit worked and it took a while, however, we succeeded at last. Generally I would say, right now the hardest part for us to understand is how to connect the Analog part into the circuit. We still need time to get used to it.

The answers to the two questions:

Question 1: As it’s mentioned in the text Physical Computing, the interaction between computer and users  need to be achieved through three parts:  Input, Processing and Output. This is very true, since human users and computers don’t share the same kind of language, we need our actions and commands to be understood by computers and thus achieving the goals of interactions. In nowadays cases, Input can be sensors which for example capturing the movements of  the users, keyboard itself is also a way of inputting information into computers. The processing part is done by the CPU of a computer, which plays the same roles as human’s brains. Output can be compicated, it can be a line of letters showing on the screen, or it can be sound or illustratiions produced by the computer after processed.  To conclude, interaction means the communications or the ‘iterative process of listening, speaking and thinking between two or more actors’. 

Question 2: I would make a giant screen, and there will be a touching pad for visitors to interact with it. Any people that put their hands on the pad, their will be a heart popping from the screen, the heart doesn’t necessarily means happy, it can be any emotions people want to express. I want to place this device at the civic square of my hometown, Shenzhen, and the name of it would be Heart of Our City, it represents everyone living in this young city, and it’s pulsing everyday, with passion and love for every people and every day.

This is our first circuit–the doorbell circuit. It includes the power,  a capacitor of 100nf, a voltage regulator, the bell, the switch and the breadboard. First thing that confused a lot was the way to use the breadboard. It took us a while to figure out how to use it. After that, everything work well. 

This is our second circuit, the LED circuit. It includes capacitor, voltage regulator, a resistor of 220 oum, an LED and a switch. The process went on quite fluently. 

This is our third circuit, it includes one more variable resistor compare to the former circuit. At first, the circuit didn’t work well, however, we then found out that it was the problem of the switch and the variable resistor, we then try to adjust them. At last, the LED lighted, but the light was really slight. 

For the three circuits, they all include a capacitor,, and the usage of it is to store electrical power and then release it .It’s designed to add capacitance to a circuit. Besides, all of them include a voltage regulator, it’s used to adjust the voltage of the power to a voltage that is suitable for the appliances, since different electrical devices have different working voltage . For the variable resistor in circuit 3, it’s used to adjust the current flwing in the circuit in order to control the lightness of the LED.  

Answer to the questions:

1. I think the interactivity is invovled in the process of building the circuit. One example is that when we finished building it, the electrical appliances worked. The door bell rang and the LED shines. That is a way that the ciircuits provide us with feedback, or interact with us.
2. The answer is quite clear to the question. Through interaction design and physical computing we can create much more complicated circuits and we can make use of different kinds of sensors and mini computer to make the circuits interactive. That’s the charm of technology.