Limor Fried

I researched the engineer Limor Fried. Limor is an engineer who is interested in electronics, industrial design, machining and colour print photography, to name just a few.

Some of her project do also include the Arduino. She created, for instance, a Motor Shield.
The Arduino together with a motor shield can be used as a nice tidy platform for robotics and machatronics. This design allows the usage for many simple to medium-complexity projects.

http://www.ladyada.net/make/mshield/index.html

Week 3

This week we spoke a little bit more in depth about the coding.

Int (integer) = always whole numbers
Starting with variables
Pin mode – function needs to be set up, otherwise pin does not do anything (OUTPUT)

Structure
3 hearts:
(1) set up variables
(2) always a setup function (void)
(3) always loop function

for (int=9; i < 13; i++){
starts off with 9, adds 1 until 13)

We had the opportunity to practise with another example from the provided Arduino examples. This time we were supposed to turn on and off a LED by using a switch.

With the aid of a sketch on the given sheet we tried to create the same circuit. Unfortunately, we ignored Richard’s advice of using coloured wires according to their purpose. Red is supposed to be for the positive and green for the ground. Why is that actually? For me personally, red somehow gives the impression of being more negative. We just simply used yellow and orange wires pretending it does not make a difference. It does not really, but it just makes it harder to read the circuit.

After a few times of trying to upload the programme to the Arduino, we realised that we hadn’t specified the serial port, which makes it impossible to upload it. Once the software was uploaded, the LED still did not respond to switch. Only the little orange light on the board lighted up according to the switch. At that time we realised that the wrong colour of wire and chaotically long ones do not make it easier to find out where the mistake was. Still, we managed to check and found out that there wasn’t really a mistake. So, what was wrong? Why didn’t it work? It was the LED. The LED was plugged in the wrong way. It was just a matter of turning it the other way around to make it work. I have to confess, this little exercise made us proud and confident. Therefore, we didn’t really have the need of doing the advanced exercise with was implied two switches. The fact that we ran out of time may also have been a reason.

In the following “lecture” we looked at some coding with Josh. According to him, the problem with Arduino is that there are too many examples. On the one hand side, it makes it easy to find appropriate examples and to modify them to a form, which is usable for our own examples, but on the other hand, it restraints you when you want to code something for your own unique idea.

Week 2

In the second week, most of us had purchased an Arduino board, so we were ready to do some experiments. One of the more basic examples in Arduino’s “Sketchbook” is the “Blink” example.

The coding is quite short:

int ledPin = 13; // LED connected to digital pin 13

void setup() // run once, when the sketch starts
{
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // sets the digital pin as output
}

void loop() // run over and over again
{
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // sets the LED on
delay(1000); // waits for a second
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // sets the LED off
delay(1000); // waits for a second
}

There are always two main parts of the programme. The first part (void setup()) states the pinModes and initialise the serial communication. The second part (void loop()) executes the programme.

It was not too difficult to do this first example and by successfully achieving it, we were more confident than before.

“Network of Scents”

I worked on a similar project called “Network of Scents”.
For this project I recorded the data (intensity and likeliness) of smell on different locations in Battersea Park. Then the data was processed and evaluated.
The programmes Fractal Domains and ContextFree were used to join all the
information collected in only one artefact. The form in which it is presented is a
fractal. A fractal is an image or pattern based on a mathematical formula. Within
this formula all data can be linked.
As a result, a connection between the graphical representation of smell and
spatial experience was achieved. The artefact represents a network of
different smells in different places.

Christian Nold – Greenwich Emotion Map

A completely different project that attracted my attention was the Greenwich Emotion Map. The map is described as an alternative map. It was created by Christian Nold and local residents between October 2005 and March 2006.

These local residents intended to re-explore the local area. Like many artists Christian Nold used sensors to record data and later represent this data in a very unique way. For measuring their level of arousal a Bio Mapping Device, invented by the artist himself, was used. This device combines two main functions. First of all, a finger cuff sensor, recording the wearer’s Galvanic Skin Response (index of emotional response) and the Global Positioning System locating the wearer.

Equipped with one of those sensors, the participant would walk wherever they wanted and would automatically produce a personal emotion map. Finally, all participants emotional responses were overlaid to create the whole Greenwich Emotion Map.

http://www.emotionmap.net/
http://emotionmap.net/GreenwichEmotionMap.pdf

Trip to Potsdam - Fachhochschule

In the end of January all students had the opportunity to take part in a trip to Germany. As part of the trip we went to see students, who are studying Interface Design at the University of applied sciences in Potsdam.

There were many interesting an inspiring examples. The topic all students had to focus with their projects was light.

http://design.fh-potsdam.de/studiengaenge/interfacedesign.html

One example was like a cylinder demonstrating the online activity of the university’s internal network. Depending on the area students were online in, the colour changed. The number of people logged in was demonstrated by the height the cylinder raised.

Another student built an installation where he had three balls. All of them were fixed on a rail system hanging on wires. When he pulled one of them on, light inside the ball slowly lighted up. All three balls had individual colours. When pulled another ball, the light in the first ball changed.

Another project was a “moving box”. Inside the paper box, there was a wireless mouse. According to the direction you moved the box, the light colour and intensity changed.

http://design.fh-potsdam.de/fachbereich/personen/portrait/wettach-prof-reto.html

The teacher we met introduced us to a few of the ongoing projects.

http://www.fritzing.org/

The project “Fritzing” is an open-source initiative. It is meant to support designers and artists helping them to transform physical prototyping to the actual product. The software, which can be compared to Processing and Arduino, allows a straightforward documentation of an Arduino-based prototype and creates a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) layout for manufacturing. It is basically an Electronic Design Automation software.

The project enables anyone to participate in discussions, so drafts can be discussed, errors can be avoided and manufacturing costs can be held as low as possible.

Te software can easily process your hardware sketch to create PCB layouts. This operation is based on a software called “EAGLE”.

http://cadsoft.de/

The need for software such as Fritzing raises with the decrease of artists, designers or researchers. They do not have to be engineers to quickly develop ideas into functional interactive prototypes. Moreover, the created prototypes are far more robust and can even be the basis of a permanent installation.


http://www.fritzing.org/media/screenshots/fritzing0005vista.png

Types of Arduino

There are a couple of different Arduinos.

Firstly, there is the Arduino Diecimila, the same Arduino I purchased.

An Arduino with Bluetooth connection is also available.

Lilypad Arduinos are available in different types. They are usually more fragile than normal Arduinos.

There are Lilypad Accelerometer, Lilypad Buzzer, Lilypad Buzzer, Lilypad Light Sensor and Lilypad Vibe Board. All Lilypad Arduinos are designed to be very thin, so they are very little noticeable. They can even be attached to clothing.

Another Arduino is the Xbee, which allows to communicate wirelessly to the main Arduino board.

Finally there is also a mini version of the Arduino board available. (Arduino Mini) It can save place with our projects.

To work and experiment with the Arduino we are going to use various utilities such as LEDs, switches, resistors, cables, a breadboard, potentiometer and different sensors.

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform. The software as well as the hardware (CAD files) can both be downloaded for free. Since they are flexible and easy to use, many artists, designers and hobbyists benefit from Arduino. Virtually anyone can start creating interactive objects with little previous knowledge.

Additionally, being open-source means that there are many free available examples on the internet, which can make learning the software and exploring the possibilities easier.

Most commonly used is the Arduino for receiving input from a variety of sensors. With the aid of sensors, it can detect sound, distance, acceleration, light, ultrasound and touch, for example.

You could use it for controlling light, motors or other actuator. There should hardly be any limits to your creativity.

The Arduino programming language is based on Wiring and its development environment originates from Processing. Processing, just like Arduino, is also an open source software which is developed for artists and hobbyists as an alternative to proprietary software.

What makes Arduino especially suitable for creative projects, is the fact that it can work independently from a computer. After the code is successfully uploaded to the board, the Arduino can be disconnected to work on its own.

In co-operation with programmes such as Macromedia Flash, processing or MaxMSP even more complex puzzles can be solved.

http://www.arduino.cc/
http://processing.org/

Week 1

Right from the beginning it becomes obvious that electricity plays an important part throughout the module. Therefore, it would probably be advisable to repeat the basics of electronics and to ensure that all technical terms will be well understood.

Nowadays, electricity can be found in almost every part of our daily life. Living without electricity is unthinkable. Heating, lighting or powering appliances are significant areas of electricity usage. Increasingly important fields are also Communication and Information Technologies.

Electricity occurs in nature too. The most known appearance is probably lightening in thunderstorms. The lightning is actually the electrical discharge of the built up electrical charge within a cloud.

So far in our studies, most of us have probably not worked with electricity in terms of “making something move, make it blink or respond to a sensor”. Most of our activities were based on the usage of a computer, so actually building something seems quite exciting.

In our first lecture we were introduced to a tool, which is going to enable us to build something that could be artistic, functional or that simply attracts attention.

http://www.lanl.gov/news/albums/safety/Lightning.jpg

http://www.xmwallpapers.com/wallpaper/storms/lightning/images/Blue%20Lightning.jpg

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektrizität