AT1F

Lab 5 : Serial Out using an Arduino

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:56:31 +0000

Goal : Send data from a single sensor to a program on a personal computer.

Serial monitor results using Serial.write() in Arduino :

ASCII representation of the byte using CoolTerm :

Hexadecimal representation using CoolTerm :

Graph of sensor values in processing :

Lab 4 : Servo Motor Control with an Arduino

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:17:18 +0000

GOAL : control a servomotor’s position using the value returned from an analog sensor.

Stupid Pet Trick : Make It Rain Machine

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:53:53 +0000

What I ended up doing for my Stupid Pet Trick was completely different from my initial idea.

From the 2 ideas that I had I started on the camera idea and actually got it up and running. How it worked ; a motion sensor triggered a camera to take a photo. I was pretty happy that I got it to work since I took a camera a part and replaced the shutter release with my own button that was connected to the Arduino and a motion detector but I wasn’t happy with the project as a whole. It wasn’t fun and everyone around me in the shop seemed to be having a lot of fun with their Pet Trick. I sat around sulking and it hit me! I wanted to create a Make-It-Rain machine. For those of you not familiar with what Make-It-Rain means, it is a term often used in Hip Hop music to describe the act of throwing money around in a lavish display of wealth.

Here is what I’m talking about :

#FeelMeh? Ok good.

The idea was to create a platform where cash could be placed and a DC motor with a custom propellor would swipe each bill of the platform 1 by 1. A potentiometer would control the speed of rain making.

Step 1 was to get the circuit to work before I started constructing the box that held the cash, motor and arduino.

Now came the fun part, constructing the device. I bought a bunch of wood from Pearl Paint and started putting it together :

That part was easy. Constructing the propeller was the real challenge as it needed to take into account the height of the cashed stacked and have enough flexibility and friction to swipe each bill off individually.

I tried a fixable piece of cardboard that I attached rubber strips at the end of.

A few tests proved that this method worked however it didnt do too well with a higher stack of cash. I replaced it with a much more flexible plastic propeller that I had cut at the ends to make it easier to spin on a higher stack. This proved more effective for a higher stack but did not do well when there were only a few bills left.

I decided to finished the rest of the case and come back to this problem.

In the end after trying a few different materials it became clear that the problem wasn’t the propellor but the motor. It did not have enough torque to spin while the stack was high. I decided to finish the project as is and work on a second version of it down the line. This is what the finished product looked like.

Shirt video of the Make-It-Rain Machine in action :

ICM : Lab 4

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:09:02 +0000

This week we were introduced to Objects and Functions. This helps us move away from repetitive & tedious coding, simplifying the programming of your sketch. We were assigned to take a previous assignment and reorganize the code using functions and objects. Click here from Lab 4.

Preview:

ICM : Lab 3

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:00:02 +0000

This week things got a bit more interesting, after learning the basics of sketching and animating, we have now transitioned into creating interactive pieces using Processing. I decided to take my sketch from Lab 1 and strip down the turtle giving the use the ability to dress it by clicking on the buttons below. Each button represents one of the 4 TMNT’s (Raphael/Red, Michelangelo/Orange, Leonardo/Blue, Donatello/Purple). In addition to pressing the buttons the user also has the option to dress the turtle by pressing the first letter of each turtles name. Click here to view Lab 3.

Preview:

ICM : Lab 2

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:52:29 +0000

This week we transitions from static to animated sketches in Processing and learned mousepress/keypress commands. Link to Lab 2.

Preview:

ICM : Lab 1

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:47:54 +0000

For our first ICM assignment we were asked to create a screen drawing using processing. I decided to keep it simple since I had little-to-no experience with programing in Processing. You can view Lab 1 here.

Preview:

Lab 2 : Short Film Story Board

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:26:22 +0000

Stupid-Pet-Trick Sketch

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:23:02 +0000

I have 2 ideas for my stupid pet trick.

1. CAMERA TRIGGERED BY SENSOR IN HAT
I would like to create a device that takes a photograph using a digital camera after a physical interaction triggers it. I would like the camera to be triggers once someone puts on a specific hat, with a sensor in it, and sits in front of it.

I can do this externally using servos or I can open it up and replace the shutter button with the trigger connected to the sensor.

2. MONEY JAR
The goal would be to create a money jar that can calculate the amount of money in coins that is put into and and outputs that amount. The jar will have one level in the middle of the jar that will have a weight sensor on it and will calculate the amount inputted based on the weight. Only one coin at a time can be inserted and a lever will release the coin to the bottom, before inserting the next.

Lab 3 : Electronics

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:00:02 +0000

Goal : Practicing basic electronic principles by trying them in action. Measuring voltage, amperage, and resistance using a multimeter.

STEP 6 : Building a basic LED circuit using an external power source and a voltage regulator. The voltage regulator converted the 12V input from the power source to 5V transmitted to the circuit.

VOLTAGE CALCULATION USING METER :

Power to ground : 4.96v

Voltage across the switch : .03v
Voltage across the LED : 1.59v
Voltage across the resistor : 3.34v
Total Voltage : 4.96v

STEP 7 : Components in Series : Building a basic 2 LED circuit in a series using an external power source and a voltage regulator.

VOLTAGE CALCULATION USING METER :

Power to ground : 4.96v

Voltage across resistor : .1.79v
Voltage across LED 1 : 1.59v
Voltage across LED 2 : 1.57v
Total Voltage : 4.95v

STEP 8 : Components in Series : 3 LEDs in parallel; measuring amperage.

Voltage across each LED : 1.55v. Was not able to measure amperage.

STEP 9 : Generating a Variable Voltage with a Potentiometer

Voltage at center point of potentiometer : .1.52v
Voltage across the LED : 1.58v