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Recitation 2: Arduino Basics by Tina(Tianyu Zhang)

Documentation

Please post your responses to these 3 questions, along with the other documentation for the circuits that you built in class (including your own drawing of the schematic for circuit 3).

Question 1: Reflect how you use technology in your daily life and on the circuits you just built. Use the Introduction Chapter (page xvii-xxix) of Physical Computing and your own observations to define interaction.

Question 2: Why did we use the 10K resistor with the push button?

Question 3: If you have 100,000 LEDs of any brightness and color at your disposal, what would you make and where would you put it?

Technology is everywhere. We are using technology in almost every aspect of our daily life. For example, the laptop that we are using. Speaking of the hardware, the laptop itself is a kind of technology, beside, the software embedded in the laptop is also a kind of representation of technology. Most of the time, we are using technology around us unconsciously, or at least, we seldom think about what kind of technology we are using even if we are aware of the fact that we are technology. Based on the reading and my own observations, I think interaction is a quite broad idea. In terms of the human-machine interaction, I would like to set the definition as the reaction or feedback the machine sends back to any human who is interacting with it in response to the human’s action.

10k resistors are used with the push-button mainly to protect the electronic elements from being damaged because of taking too much voltage and being burnt.

If I have 100,000 LEDs of any brightness and color, I would use them to replace the current streetlights. There will be sensors put on them to detect the crowd. For example, if there is no one on the road near the streetlight, the brightness will be pretty low, etc. It may be considered as part of the smart city system.

Circuit 1 (LED FADED) Video Documentation

Circuit 2 (BUZZER) Video Documentation

 

Circuit 3 (GAME) Video Documentation

Circuit Schematic:

 

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#2-Reflection about the Guest speech & my Meeting Journal

Write a short reflection about the discussion in class and the talk from our guest speaker.
Keep in mind the next questions:

  • What did we discuss? What did you learn? 
  • What is your position or point of view? How do you feel about it?
  • Now what? Make connections from the experience to further actions. What are you going to do about it and how?

Answer: 

Our guest speaker is a trash-collector who has been doing this job for over 20 years. Through his introduction, we were able to get to know the reality and the stories behind the policy of trash classification. He told us that there were tons of trashes every day, both from what they collect and some other places sent to them. And we asked him several questions about the detailed methods that he applied to distinguish different kinds of trashes. And we were acknowledged that they collected trashes for money, therefore, the willingness of them collecting a specific kind of trash really depends on the price the trash-collecting company would like to pay for that kind of trash. He was a very honest man, he told us that their work is quite flexible. If they were too tired and did not want to collect trashes that day, they could simply put the trashes together without classifying them carefully. This was a hidden rule that all of them knew. I was shocked by the fact at the very first beginning and felt a little bit angry because the policy of trash classification was not carried out carefully. However, a few minutes later, I began to understand them. Standing in their shoes, I think I might be doing the same thing. Since no one would like to face the piles of trashes every day, do we?

In this guest speech, I learned that the there are still a lot of problems existing in the current garbage classification system where we should devote ourselves in solving.

From my point of view, actions should be taken immediately. The issues are urgent and do not give us time to hesitate.

 

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Imaginary Artifacts Based on the Fiction Stories

Straw-Man (for story 1: folding Beijing): 

Based on the story set in “Folding Beijing”, I am thinking if I can make stable things interactive and let them be the connector among the three cities. For example, in the reading, it mentioned that “the ground was moving”. Since the folding Beijing is based on the concept that the earth is rotating so that people in each space are taking turns to live and work. If there is a straw-man that can connect all the straws on the ground together, then although the ground will be moving, they can still transfer the information between each other. There should be one antenna on each straw, and for the straw-man, it should have three with which it can connect the whole three spaces. For people who want to send information through them, they need to go the rural area of their space and find one straw-mailer, it will process if the information is able to be sent, if it is something more than a piece of information, such as the things LaoGe wanted to send to his parents, they will be delivered through the straw-deliver, and passed to other spaces. Otherwise, it will be passed one by one through the straws until the straw-man got it and send it to another space.

Since this imaginary object is too “imaginary”, there is nothing current design like that I could find. But I still think it is possible to realize. We are now considering all AI objects through robots or other man-made objects, however, I think it may be worth trying to integrate the AI technology into nature.

But, sure, I can foresee some big problems existing in my idea. First of all, if the ground or other natural world things can think and process information like us, how can we differentiate ourselves from them? And the second problem is quite obvious and direct if they can work so automatically, how can people like LaoDao earn money, although it is illegal?

Smart Facial Mask (for story 2: Newton’s Sleep):

In the story Newton’s Sleep, it mentioned that the “weather was the worst”, and that Sarah Rose also died of the toxics. Also based on the COVID-19’s experience, we know that it is hard to require people to wear their facial masks all the time, especially in the case of Newton’s Sleep, because no one knows when the inhaled is toxic. Therefore, I would like to design one air purifier that is embedded in the users’ faces. There will be a sensor that inhales gas per millisecond, it will process what the gas is and if it is harmful to human beings. If so, it will be lifted, isolate our breathing system with the natural surroundings, and send out clear air to us. In this way, we no longer need to worry about inhaling harmful gases. Also, it is quite interactive since its shape is personalized for every user to best fit their face profiles.

Based on my research, there exist some inventions that can release clear air for people, however, they are not so automatic and interactive as mine.

For the problem that I can foresee, I think there may exist one problem that how can we produce clear air since this design is based on the idea that the air is widely polluted. Also, I think it may be harmful to embed this gadget in people’s bodies.

Make AI’s Thoughts Aloud (for story 3: The Lifecycle of Software Objects):

In the novel, the author raised one question,” How will the Artificial Intelligence objects feel when they are sent to the real world”. Based on this question, I would like to design something that can interact with the Artificial Intelligence objects, since the whole novel is set up on the base that the AI objects can behave and think just like us. Therefore, my design will be an interactive composing keyboard on which all the AI objects can compose their own music. Later on, we can sense their feelings through the music they created instead of directly asking them.

There are many different kinds of music composers in the current market, however, there is no one that can interact with the AI objects. Adding on to that, I am thinking about how to make the composer communicate with the AI objects, for example, it can smartly play a piece of music similar to what the AI compose and that is created we human beings composed after one AI object finish his/her composing. Through this way, the AI objects are able to sense that we are having many similar thoughts with them and that they are going to be alone in this real world.

And currently, I cannot foresee any problem that can be brought by this invention.

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Recitation 1: Electronics and Soldering by Tina(Tianyu Zhang)

Process:

At the very first beginning, I looked at the schematic carefully. However, I found out that I was not able to recognize all the component symbols on the schematic, therefore, I referred to the reference at the bottom of the web page to let myself be familiar with them first. Then, I started to aligned all the real components with their symbols one by one. After all of this preparation work has been done, I began to figure out the electricity flow in the three circuits. Later on, I experimented a few times to find out where to put the components that may be the clearest and easiest way(although I do not think that I found the simplest way). And I tried to put every component and used it to wire to connect them together as the schematics instructed. After finishing the circuit, I used the power to charge it and check if it works. I met with some troubles with the first one, and the LED did not turn on after I press the button. But I could not figure out why by myself so I asked the fellow for help. She told me that since the button has four ends, it would be better to put the button in the center, crossing the two halves of the breadboard. Finally, I was able to finish the first task. Moreover, since the three tasks are quite alike actually, so I finished the whole three tasks soon after I figured out the first one.

Components:

  1. Resistor: Usually we use the 220-ohm ones or the 10k ohm ones. It is used for reducing the voltage the LED or other components will gain in the circuit.
  2. LED: can be seen as a kind of output; lights
  3. Capacitor: store the voltage or power
  4. Voltage Regulator: regulate/adjust the output’s voltage
  5. Variable Resister/Potentiometer: similar to the resistor, but the extent of the voltage reduction can be altered
  6. Push Button: switch; to collect the input information and control the output status
  7. Speaker: making sounds

Reflection:

When making the first circuit, I encountered several obstacles. One is that I have not used these Physics knowledge about electricity for a really long time. So I needed some time to get myself re-familiar with this knowledge. The other is that my button did not work because the button has four ends but I put all of them in a connected area, which is more carefully illustrated in the first paragraph.

Media Documentation:

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Define the word “Interaction” and find projects to illustrate

In the reading “What exactly is interactivity?”, the author argues that interactivity should be “a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak”. I actually really agree with this definition, but I think that there is one thing that should be added to it, which is the actor should be replaceable, which means everyone who wants to join this interaction are able to join.

I found one project called “Cosmic Quilt” which I think is aligned with my definition. It contains the “quilt” on the top and one remoter which the participant can use to control the movement of the quilt. In this project, every time the participant uses the remoter to send information, the project(equipment) will take the information and process it. At last, it will turn out to be some movements that the “quilt” makes. Also, everyone is able to come and pick up one of the remoter to interact with the project themselves and create their own “cosmic quilt” movements.

Also, I found one representative project that is not aligned with my definition. The project is called “Shenzhen Pulse(深圳脉动)”. In fact, I appreciate this project a lot because it collected the real-time data of Shenzhen’s transportation information, and it used the metal’s turning to visualize it and display it to the passersby. However, I would rather call it a fantastic visualizing project instead of an interactive one. The reason why I state so is that it seems the project only “interact” with the data of Shenzhen’s transportation, and no one else can be the participants to interact with it. Maybe you will ask why the replaceability of the actor is important for a project to be interactive. I would respond that we need to differentiate interaction from the term, visualization. It should not be simply telling the audience something in a much more fancy way, instead, every participant should be given the right to be the creator of the interaction. And that is the charm of interaction, from my understanding.

https://hellocircuits.com/2013/05/13/cosmic-quilt-by-the-principals/

https://www.manamana.net/video/detail?id=196189#!en

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#1-My personal understanding about trashes and pollution before watching “bag it”

Question: Before you watch the movie, try to answer these questions:
What is trash? Where does it go? How does it affect our environment? Discuss how landfills, and the toxicity they create — methane, leachate, greenhouse gases — impact our environment. Why is leachate in our aquifers a bad thing?

Answer: As far as I am concerned, trash is something that we thought that we would never use again, at least at the moment we threw them out. They are usually something ordinary, which means they are commonly used in our daily life and are very likely to be consumables. It is their easiness to be substituted and replicated that makes them trash. However, we seldom care about where do they go after being thrown away. From the knowledge that I have now, I imagine there is a plant specialized in recycling or only degrading the trashes, and that is where they may go. However, since we are producing tons of trashes every day, it must be hard or even impossible to process them all at the same speed we produce them. Therefore, the trashes that is not able to go to the processing planet may be stored outside in some rural areas, and the soil and water around them will be severely affected.

Based on the knowledge that I acquired in one EAP course that I previously took, which talks about sustainability, I got to know that toxicity like methane and greenhouse gases are causing obvious climate changes. For instance, the most known-to-all one, global warming, and other long-term consequences like sea-level rising, land desertification, and so on. And for leachate, it causes severe problems like groundwater pollution. Due to the fact that groundwater pollution is processing slowly and hard to discover,  seldom do we pay enough attention to it. However, its impact is much more harmful than we thought. Groundwater is an important part of the precious freshwater resources in the world, and it needs many years to gain from the rain and make it pure. There is a large part of the water we used daily coming from groundwater. As you can see, groundwater pollution will affect our lives a lot.