Intangible Interaction

I got all 10 motors working!
I think treating each pair of eyes as separate cases was my only choice for the moment,  the eyeballs have different weights and they require different power and amp so it was impossible to just do a “one fits all” solution.
The motors are very delicate and I had connectivity issues both with the breadboard and the wiring from the motors, but managed to debug most of them. 
I think the motors just got tired after a while and it’s not all just about the electricity.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1N0Rb8F2DKY

Is it a coincidence that I found this surveillance camera sticker in my spot?

Preparing for the show

A bag of bleeding eyeballs 

Proposal Draft

Lang and I met a few times and got excited about her LED experiments for Connected devices, we thought it could fit with my previous pollution project for Pcomp class.
We collected some inspirations and decided that a data visualization project would be the best option. We don’t want to just present the data in a graphic way but have an actual device or accessory that could show the changes in data.
We are still thinking it through.
Here is what we presented in class. 

New Box + New Motors 

I recreated the box, this time from the cheapest materials available and with different shape for the eyes mechanism so that they could potentially pop out.
1- I checked all the motors for usability and ended up with 24 that work.
2- I cut small pieces of wood in the exact thickness of the motors so that they would be fitted perfectly to align with the external surface of the box.
3- I glued everything together, thinking it’s the best solution for now as I might have to change things in the future and also I do have the fur to cover it all up in the end, so shouldn’t be too bothered with the aesthetics of it.
4- I tested the motors again, for some reason not all of them were working, but still had enough of them to work with.
5- I slowly started adding the eyes with their fitting shafts, checking that the motors can still handle the weight.
6- I decided to use 10 motors to begin with and see how it goes from there. 

The newly designed box

Weird Kitchen

https://leaflet.perrotin.com/view/314/blow-out

Weather/ Pollution Data

https://wp.nyu.edu/efratlevy/

Biological Clock

Updates from the cube:

– Need to check that all the motors work- because they don’t!
– Need to read about PWM,  Pulse width min and max, Pulse length and all the mechanical aspects of my lovely motor.
– Servo frequency and oscillator? sounds great! 
– Manual for working with the 12V Variable power supply (on the ITP website).
– I just need to do some reading because it seems like I have no idea what I’m doing.

Hallelujah! 
Driver is finally working!

New Cardboard box
I refabricated the box with cardboard because I want to test the new eyes and design the whole thing again to be better suited for the density of the fur. I will laser cut the holes this time or cut frames for the mechanism because I want the eyes to pop out and not be hidden as they are now. I used MakerCase for this version.

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This week we connected to the “Sandbox 370” network to register the Arduino mac address to it. In order to do that we needed to do these things:
1- Add the WIFININA library to Arduino.
2- Open the “ScanNetworks” example and run it while the Arduino is connected.
3- Copy the number that appears on the serial monitor after “MAC:” 
4- Confirm the registration and see the item added to your list.

It’s important to note that only two Arduinos can be added at the same time and any device that exceeds that number should be added by Marlon or IT person.

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After that we added the ArduinoHttpClient library, that allows to connect to the dweet API. We ran some tests on that API by sending data to it from our private computers and Arduinos and saw it on screen in class.
In order to do that we did the following things:
1- Download the library.
2- Registered to the dweet website and added values to the API Yeseul opened.
3. Added the values to “DweetPost” and “DweetGet” code examples through Arduino.
4. Change the network and pass on the “arduino_secrets.h” tab (+s0a+s03!2gether?)
This tab exists in both code examples.

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We wanted to pull some weather data from an existing API so we signed into https://www.iqair.com/ and pulled the key that we would later use to get the data.
We used this code example to get the data from the website and attached three led lights to  our breadboard so they will turn on according to the data we receive.

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A sitting area of a person who’s trying to power 16 servo motors

https://youtube.com/shorts/WCHluJnT6AY?feature=share
Soundtrack Here 

How to calculate the amperage for 16 tiny servo motors?
Since it was very hard to find the exact amperage of this motor, many tests had to be done before determining that it’s somewhere around 200 milliamps when using a 5V power supply. Based on that assumption I decided to test different currents while my breadboard was powered with a variable DC power supply, so I can better determine the exact amperage I would later need for all 16 motors.
I added more data pins to the code so that later each set of eyes would have their own unique movement, but for now I first had to make sure the motors actually work.
I connected one motor at a time while adding to the amperage with each new connection, so that eventually it took about 6V and 1.2A for 6 motors.
Of course I found this article after all my hopeless attempts, but I guess that the weight that I put on the motor also had an effect on the situation, so it was good to see how the motor reacted in different situations before trying it on the real cube.

New 3D-printed eyeballs!

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New eyeballs in different sizes and matching shafts (the big ones might be too heavy… we’ll see)

New Servo Driver!

I ordered this Servo Driver from “Adafruit” but soldered it (embarrassingly) all wrong. After that I decided to make things even worse by de soldering it all (why would anyone do that??) only to achieve the really sad result of a heavily damaged driver. Nevertheless, I’m not giving up and will order a new one soon to try again.
Here are my results so far:

Datasheet here.

This is the final week for this project, so it’s time to make some fast decisions.

Materials:

It seems like the most natural material for this project would be fur, since it does deal with living creatures and also adds some humor to it.
I found some orange and black fur in “Mood Fabrics” and decided to use it.
Here are the inspirations for the fur and my new fury box.

   
Some fury thoughts, completely unrealistic but make me happy

Various faux furs found in “Mood Fabrics”, it was hard to leave this place

3d printing:

3d printing all the components might take a while and considering the high demand on the printers I think I’ll have to narrow it down to the essentials. I am preparing some extra foam balls, but hoping to at least get the holders and shafts printed out.

Trying out various eye shapes of different animals (and not liking it)

The back stage 

Sensor and code:

I tried running the code on Tuesday night but didn’t get any serial output but after I returned to the floor the next day it suddenly all seemed to work.
I combined the motor code with the sensor example code and now working on adjusting it to my needs. There seems to be a big jump in the numbers when an object is distancing, it goes from 300 to 8000 quite suddenly. I figured out that this is happening due to the limitations of the infra red laser that can only return the light beam back to the sensor when the object is relatively near.

More information in the data sheet here

Designing the circuit:

I had to design a new circuit for the motors because a big amount of servo motors require more power. Initially the idea was to power it from a power supply but the amperage was too high and it wasn’t good to use with the 5v regulators.
Here are my attempts to power the motors, all ending up in over heating of the regulator or the motors not working.
I will try it again with a 9V battery as it has much lower amperage than the power supply (1200 instead of 2100) and seems like the answer to this problem, but I also want to try this servo motor driver because it seems like it would be a longer lasting solution.

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What am I doing with these regulators? it is unclear

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bgz5RYsa5co

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7gj3TyKnwoI

 
Photos from the presentation in class

Other resources I found interesting:

Reference for eyeball mechanism projects:
https://www.instructables.com/Eye-Animatronics/
https://duino4projects.com/motion-follow-animatronics-eyes/
https://hackaday.com/2019/11/13/this-arduino-keeps-its-eyes-on-you/

I realized that my concept is mostly based on motor movement and that it probably won’t be possible to both use sensor and move type in a smooth way. Also, considering time limitations, I thought I should probably stick to a more simple project that relies on one single object instead of many complicated items. 

I went back to my midterm Physical Computing project, in which I created 3 wooden cats and moved their eyes with small servo motors. I thought expanding this idea using sensors and focusing on different movements could be an interesting experiment.
After some thought the idea of the “Box of Eyes” (or “Eye-box”) came to mind, which is somewhat a reaction of mine to events that are happening around the world today, starting with loss of species, our disconnection from nature, climate crisis and society.
I feel that all of these processes have to do with the way technology is now invading every aspect of our daily lives, effecting our social interactions and human connection in general. Although it might seem like a cute and fun project, it will hopefully create some feelings of unease and awkwardness in the viewers, and raise questions about our culture of followers, scrolls and constant mechanic swipes.
Are these machines that we are all using really as sweet and adorable as they seem? Is this company with its slick new logo really working for our benefit as a society?
I think this would definitely be a “Curious Cube”, assuming curiosity is still in the very essence of our human nature. I am hoping this “uncurious” cube would spark some thought through its interaction and make people see that not every cute looking object and not every sign of interest is as endearing as they might seem at first.

Sketches:

Initial sketches of the concept

• Each set of eyes should have their own distinct movement, based on a different animal. I might possibly create sketches of the animals and place them next to the cube but I’m not sure if that’s necessary.

• Sensors: Two possible sensors came up: 
  1- VL53LOX Time-of-Flight Distance Sensor
  2- APDS 9960 – Digital RGB, Ambient Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensor

Fabrication (starting out):

I started building the box with foam-board and creating the eyes with foam balls, small servo motors, glue and electronics. I don’t want to necessarily use these materials for the final result, but for now trying to cut down on expenses. 

  
Front view of the box

View of the mechanism on the back 

Eyeballs and shafts:

After these attempts I figured it would probably be wiser if I created a mechanism that would fit all the eyes, since the basic mechanics are always the same.
I decided to 3d print the parts, including a shaft that would be inserted into each eyeball, allowing better control over the movement.

I tried various materials for the eyes: Papier-mâché, Paper clay and also a 3d printed version. In the end I got quite a nice 3d printed eyeball and managed to connect it to the shaft to get a smooth movement (I was afraid the 3d printing material would be too heavy for the motor).

My various attempts at creating eyeballs

 
The eyeball model created in Blender and 3d print result

The shaft model created in Blender and the 3d print attached to a servo

The 3d printed eyeball connected to the shaft that is rotating around the servo motor 

Servo motor holder:

I wanted to design a device to support the motors so they would keep in place while rotating, but also wanted to have the ability to adjust the motor location.
I created a long 3d printed bar upon which motor holders would be placed.
The motors would connect to the holder with a screw and the holder itself could also be screwed into holes located on top of the long strip.

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The motor holder sketches, model and 3d print

Final mechanism ready to be attached to the cube

Sensor testing and programming:

I connected the VL53LOX sensor in an I2C connection to the Arduino and downloaded the “Advl53l0x-arduino-master” zip library. It’s important to notice that the sensors we have at the shop are not “Adafruit” manufactured, but “Pololu”. They don’t use the same example code and pins are arranged slightly different, but both worked well.
I thought that for start I should get the eyes moving from right to left if a movement is detected on the right side, and left to right on the opposite. Also, would be nice if each set of eyes could have their own movement change when a closer movement is detected, but first need to get some serial output.

The sensor connected to Arduino Nano 33Iot (SDA –> A4, SCL –> A5)

More information was found here: 
https://www.electroniclinic.com/vl53l0x-arduino-interfacing-and-programming/
https://www.bluedot.space/tutorials/how-many-devices-can-you-connect-on-i2c-bus/
https://www.pololu.com/product/2490
https://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/i2c-communication-with-a-time-of-flight-distance-sensor/
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-vl53l0x-micro-lidar-distance-sensor-breakout

This week I decided to make some changes to my initial idea, I felt that a typographic grid system wouldn’t be the most intangible experience as it would easily become a sort of game. I might go back to it in the future because I did really like the idea of using optic fibre as a light source, also the idea that some parts light up while others don’t, allows many variations.

I decided to go back to my “Typo Boxes” project and try to recreate it using latin type, I thought it would be more moving if the letters themselves had some sort of sensing to what’s around them and move according to the viewer’s behavior.

Here is a sketch demonstrating how a cube version of an “A” might look like.

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I wanted to try both sans serif and serif fonts so I created parts for two “A” letters.

After that I cut the parts from cardboard and connected it to servo-motors that would enable movement of 90°.

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https://www.behance.net/gallery/112999531/DR-GAN?tracking_source=search_projects_appreciations%7Ctype+cube

Project #2: Proximity Sensor Research

This week we were asked to choose one sensor from a given list and
do a little research on it.
I chose the Mini PIR Sensor with Time and Sensitivity Control – BS612.
It is a relatively simple, cheap and straightforward sensor which is used in a great variety of consumer electronics, smart home, security and lighting applications.

Description:

The sensor is comprised out of two parts: the actual sensor and a cap.
The cap allows better distribution of the infra red light (PIR = Passive Infra Red) and maximizes the angle of heat detection: 120° on the Y axis and 100° on the X.
The sensor works in a way that it detects the existence of objects nearby by detecting heat, so an object that would be in a distance of 3-8 meters would trigger an action in the sensor, like a switch or button with an on / off option.
In that sense, this sensor differs from the more sophisticated motion sensors, as it doesn’t detect location or movement, only the existence of a body nearby.

The sensor works with 3.3V power supply and integrates digital circuit and sensitive element in a hermetically sealed package. The PIR signal is converted to a digital value on chip. A REL output indicates whenever the PIR Signal is above the selected threshold. The OEN can control the REL output or through the light sensor. The parameters for sensitivity and timing are set by connecting the corresponding inputs to DC voltages. All signal processing is performed digitally. 

Pin #1 (SENSE) connects to to ground (most sensitive)
Pin #2 (OEN) connects to 3.3V to enable the output
Pin #3 (VSS) to Ground
Pin #4 (VDD) to 3.3V
Pin #5 (REL)- check signal
Pin #6 (ONTIME) connects to ground (on time of 2 seconds)

The full data sheet can be viewed here.

Applications:

Consumer electronics applications such as: Toys, Digital photo frames, Doorbells, TVs, Refrigerators, Air Conditioners.

Smart home and security applications: USB alarms, Intrusion detection, Network camera, LAN monitor, Private alarm, Car alarm system and lighting. 

Lighting applications such as: Automatic lighting of indoors, courtyards, corridors, staircase lights, etc.

Circuit Examples:

Microcontroller Code:

Project #1: Intangible Interaction Among Us

For the 1st assignment Lang and I teamed up to design a new “house” for the electric toothbrush (The Oral-B one seems most popular). We thought that the whole interaction with this object is uncomfortable and lacks basic logic in some aspects of it.
We wanted to find some creative solutions for the problems we found. 
The first thing we weren’t pleased about is the charging mechanism, we felt it is always difficult to handle the charger and that the shape of it is not very helpful.
The second thing we were concerned about is the proximity to water, which could be a dangerous thing and is hardly considered in the design.
Another aspect we were generally unhappy with is the fact that there is no stability in the design of neither the toothbrush or the charger. This is somewhat problematic considering it’s an electric device that is usually meant to inhibit a small space. 
We generally thought that this object is not very fun and people would probably try to avoid it when not using it. Cleaning your teeth is just not a very fun activity, so why should the design be so gloomy as well?

    Some renders of our design for the “Washibrush”