This week I played around with the servo and analog output labs. I went to the junk shelf and found a little pinwheel to put on my servo. I mapped my potentiometer up to my servo motor through the Arduino so the pinwheel moves when you move the knob of the potentiometer.
This week’s ICM assignment was to use functions in a new or existing program. I chose to revise and continue work on Trumpong!
See the new and improved version here: http://lmj.io/projects/icm/trumpong-revised/
This week our assignment was to make at least five of the same thing. I had some kombucha bottles at home that I’ve been meaning to do something with, so I decided I’d work on wiring them up as a chandelier.
I decided to use six bottles because I had a feeling I’d mess one of them up. First I figured out how to remove the labels and the glue, then I went to Lighting Plus to buy components, then I fitted the lighting components in the bottle caps, then put the bottles and the caps back together.
This week in Video and Sound class, we were asked to come up with an idea for a three to four minute film. We decided to pick the option: Find a short story and re-interpret this narrative visually.
Before settling on our idea, Eve, Adi and I took a few hours to bat ideas around. We started by watching videos that we each liked and some themes emerged. We found interactive video engaging, we were drawn to narration, graphics, and personal story, and we wanted to use on a serious topic.
This week we were tasked with observing a piece of interactive tech in public, then commenting on its design. I picked Citi Bike, specifically the docking function.
I observed for about 40 minutes in two locations. I must have had bad luck with my timing, because in that time I only observed five people using the docking mechanism.
After such a smooth process with last week’s switch assignment, I got really ambitious for this week’s analog input assignment. Things didn’t go nearly as nicely this week.
This week’s assignment was to recreate the game pong. We got the assignment right around the time of the second republican primary debate, so I thought it would be fun to make a game that reflected the debate.
Give it a shot here: http://lmj.io/projects/icm/trumpong/
This week we were asked to create a short sound piece or audio installation with a partner.
Kevin and I both had partners that dropped a few days before the audio samples were due, so we thought we’d try to come up with something “simple.” We both like voice/opinion montages, and we also thought it would be good to have experience “interviewing” people, so we came up with the idea to ask people the question: What is your favorite food.
In PComp this week we’re tasked with finding a use for a switch. In fabrication we’re tasked with building a “flashlight.” I thought this would be a good opportunity to combine projects and create a flashlight with a switch.
This week we used our Arduino kit to build our very first circuit using a breadboard, resistor, and USB power.
I initially put the basic circuit together and couldn’t get it to work. Luckily my friend Dana was sitting down the table and quickly pointed out that I didn’t have the right resistor. I knew that different color resistors had different ratings, but I didn’t realize that you had to look really closely at the little stripes. So, I thought all of my resistors were the same rating at first.