DB5 - SYNTHESIZE

LINK TO THE PROJECT:
http://thuylinhtran.com/final-synthesize/

DB4 - COMMUNICATE (Tania Camancho & Brent Burelle - Stuffo the Toothfairy)

As far as we've come, the original plan has remained relatively intact. As we intended the project would, in rough terms, be comprised of a plush creature that would be embedded with an arduino which in turn would communicate with the another arduino receiving "communal" serial data. The plushie would receive said data wirelessly, manipulate the data via flex sensors  hidden within its arms, represent the data visually via tri-color LED's, then return the data to the original arduino to be sent out along the Cadavre Exquis.

The problems began with our choice in wireless communication, more specifically RF emitters and receivers. We bought two separate frequencies of RF couplings (434 and 315). After much fiddling we arranged the radios to send and receive the data, but only separately. Once the radios were required to share the same data (i.e.: from 434 emitter to 434 receiver to 315 emitter to 315 receiver) the data would become illegible. We had thought it might be a matter of limited range or over sensitivity but the problem proved to be more code oriented. On Elio's advice it was suggested to forego the separate RF components and simply use the more costly yet more reliable X-bees. That problem resolved, the project was came together with few other obstacles.


This is the point to which we got on the first try:


PLAN AND STORYBOARD:

    

FRANKENSTEIN

THE SKETCH FOR THE MAIN ARDUINO

THE SKETCH FOR THE TOY ARDUINO

HOW IT IS ALL WIRED INSIDE OF THE DOLL

 THE ARDUINO THAT CONNECTS TO CLASSMATES

*you can find the code for the arduinos here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22920184/DB4.zip

ASSIGNMENT 3-SENSE

This project was TEAM based. My teammates were Linh Tran, Patrick Yeung, Marie-Joaile Gingras.

The link to our whole process and GAME is here:

http://thuylinhtran.com/db3-sense/#more-334

ANIMATE - part FINAL LOOK

What it looks like inside the box.

ANIMATE - part CONNECTION

from the Arduino Playground website: http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Main/MAX72XXHardware

ANIMATE - part PROGRESS 1

The LEDs connections from front and behind before the pouring of the silicone

As well as measure sketches for the wooden structure

ANIMATE - part IDEAS AND MATERIALS

IDEAS

A) LED matrix (kept idea)

It would consist in making an animated display on an LED matrix

B) LED bracelet

A bracelet with blinking LEDs or that requires some kind of programing to be animated

C) Thermochromic paint bracelet

A bracelet with drawings on it that appear thanks to heating wires controlled with arduino

MATERIALS

The LED matrix will be made of:
- 64 LEDS
- 1 liter of soft silicone
- wires
- 1 MAX 7219 LED driver
- 1 Arduino
- 2 capacitors (10micro Farads & 100n)
- 1 resistor

SWITCH - Final Result

THE SWITCH - part PROCESS

Here are some pictures of how the thing went

THE SWITCH - part PLAN

THE PLAN

The switch will be needing 12 magnets for the 4 parts of the centipede, two leds, one 47OHM resistor and a power supply. Every switch will be made between two magnets.

Testing the plan with the breadboard

THE SWITCH - part IDEAS

IDEAS:

A) Centipede - the one I kept

I want to make a centipede in different parts and have magnets be a conductive switch between all of the parts.


The LED or LEDS would be on the head (probably will be the eyes) and on the tail there will be either a battery or some kind of power supply.

B) Puzzle

Something like a Rubik's cube where again, magnets are located in different spots and if we place all of the pieces in the right order and where the magnet's poles all work correctly, there will be light somewhere. It kind of reminds me of the movie "Cube".

C) Honey bear

Or some kind of honey loving puppet holding a bucket of honey. If the bucket is filled, then there is conduction and the lights light up. Wires would be inside of the puppet and the circuit would be open always unless the bucket of honey is filled.

RECENTLY DISCOVERED MATERIALS

I would love to make a puppet that has electronics embedded in it.
Two materials that I found are used to make puppets and action figures are PLIABLE WIRES and MODELING CLAY.

THE WIRE
The wire has to be strong but pliable. I believe that there are different metals available for these wires, and depending on the use of the wires I could get conductive or non-conductive ones. Here's a link for one type of wire that is sold at Omer DeSerres:

http://www.deserres.ca/en-ca/products/creative-diy/sculpture-and-modeling/pliable-silver-frame-wire/85/1551/

THE CLAY
There is a modeling clay that comes in different colors called FIMO, however, I think that if I want to make a complex and solid model, I should get this special clay used for modeling, it is called Super Sculpy. It is quite soft but becomes rock solid when baked in the oven. It can contain wiring inside and electronic parts can be embedded in it.

http://www.deserres.ca/en-ca/products/creative-diy/sculpture-and-modeling/modeling-paste/85/2641/

What the project with those two things could be is making like a toy that could react to it's position and interact with the user through computer messages or sounds according to how it's being manipulated.
However, for the Switch project, I'd make something simple like a lamp, where, for example, if the character has it's hands touching (and the switch is activated), lights embedded in his body turn on. The toy can have more than one part, which means I could make like a centipede and have to have all the parts of the centipede touch together in order to have the connection and the lights working properly.

Another material that I discovered by searching paints was this carbon paint, which is conductive as well.
I suppose it could be applied on most surfaces but could crack on bendable ones, so I guess it should only be applied to hard materials.

http://www.2spi.com/catalog/spec_prep/cond_paints3.shtml





Other materials that I know and am interested in but I've never used are plexiglas and conductive thread.

CONDUCTIVE MATERIALS AND OBJECTS

There are a few things that I found around the house that were conductive. Most were found in the kitchen, as it seems that what conducts electricity is mostly metals, water, sugar and salt...


Measures of the resistance:
Raspberry     0.79MΩ
Banana      50KΩ
Lettuce    6MΩ
Pencil     6.05KΩ
Marker tip    2.5MΩ
Cheese grater   1Ω
Myself    1.3MΩ

What wasn't conductive was generally plastics, paint, wood, aluminum, cotton and other fabrics, and glass. What did conduct electricity without any resistance was metal such as the one found in utensils.