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Initial concept and developed concept for an everyday household object (knife block) using Arduino software

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In this video we used a Servo Motor. The servo motor has 3 wires; Red-Power, Brown-Ground and Orange-Signal Wire. We used an example sketch from the Tools menu on the Arduino program to test the motor. The servo motor can move 180 degrees only.

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In this test we used two LED’s. As we covered the LDR we wanted one LED to remain on and the other to be off, when we removed our finger we then wanted the LED that was on to turn off and the LED that was on to off.

Making sure that the second LED (LED2) was refered to a pin number int LED2 = 8;

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Video of LDR turning off LED when the sensor is covered/restricted light.

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In this example we swapped out the Push Button for a Tilt Sensor. By swapping the input component this meant that when the Breadboard had been ‘tilted’ slightly, the LED would turn off. It would then turn back on once tilted the right way up again. 

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Video of the Push Button turning on the LED when pressed.

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For the next test we were intorduced to the Push Button and 10k ohm resistor. We wanted the LED to turn on when the button was pressed.

Firstly, we had to make sure the push button’s pin number had been told to Arduino int button = 2; and tell Arduino to check if the button has been pressed int buttonState = 0;

The command Serial.begin(6900); tells Arduino to begin a communication back to the computer (6900) being the certain dialect. The command Serial.println(buttonState); tells Arduino to print back the button state value to the computer. This can be viewed by pressing the magnifying glass in the top left, it prints 0 when OFF and 1 when ON.

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Video of the LED component flashing at 500ms.

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In the second test we wanted to make the LED flash on and off. By using the command delay(500); we were able to delay the LED by 500ms. The delay is required when the LED is on and also when it is off as this would allow for the flashing on and off to appear (if it was just set to delay when the LED was HIGH you would not see the flashing, as the light would turn off and on again too quickly for the blind eye to notice, therefore, it would appear to be ON all the time).

A quicker way of creating a delay is to use the command delay(pause); and to make sure you give pause a meaning int pause = 500;

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In the first example we used the LED and 330 ohm Resistor components (resistor is required in series with an LED to reduce the current flow in a circuit to the LED and allow it to light up).

The command int LED = 10; was used as int refers to whole integer numbers and 10 refers to pin 10 on the Digital side of the Arduino board, as the LED has been connected to that specific pin number.

pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); command tells Arduino that the Digital side pin 10 is an output (LED will light up)

digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); command tells Arduino that there will be HIGH voltage to pin 10, which sends out 5V and turns the LED on.

Once the code has been written you must Verify your sketch (compiles sketch and makes sure it recognises it and highlights mistakes/problems) by selecting the tick at the top right of the Arduino program and then Upload (activates your code and sends it to the Arduino board) it to the Arduino board by selecting the right facing arrow in a circle.

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In the first session, we explored the fundamental elements of the program Arduino and were given information about the kit and it’s components.

The two control components are the ‘Breadboard’ and the ‘Arduino board’. 

The Breadboard dictates the lines of communication (vertically down the sides and horizontally across the centre). Input and output components are connected to the centre of the breadboard. The numbers and letters positioned on the breadboard are for reference and can help when setting up a circuit, as it is easier to spot what pin is in the wrong place (e.g. Pin in D5 is wrong, it should be in C5 to line up with the other components).

The Arduino board has Power Pins which connects the components to a DC voltage 3.3V or 5V, it also allows the components to connect to a Ground Pins (x2) GND. The board has Analog In Pins on the left side which detect senses (e.g. light/vision with a LDR - light dependant resistor). The Digital Pins are on the right hand side, it can detect input (e.g. when a button is pushed) and outputs a signal (e.g. turns LED on). The Digital Pins can either be OFF or ON, 0 or 1. It also contains (x1) GND.

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Final Test.

This time I was able to set my balloons up in a line like my initial concept. I decided to colour code the balloons this time, 2 white (Earth) 3 red (Sound effects). I chose these colours as red is Napier’s colour and white tied in with the area and went well with the red, this made it a lot easier when explaining to people who asked how it worked and when setting up and connecting the balloons to the makeymakey. I decided to also stick with the same probability 2-3. 

Likewise with the pilot test, many people asked questions, interacted with the balloons and created a playful experience for themselves and others around. It was interesting to watch peoples differing reactions, some were confused and weren’t sure if they could walk through, others walked straight through, some stopped to ask what was going on and even some hit the balloons and interacted with them to make a noise.

In conclusion the interactive experience concept was very successful, most people were successful in creating sounds with the air waves they created and some were not as successful, they did not recieve the same experience as others as they chose to ignore what was going on and tried to avoid the situation. The overall experience was very different from peoples everyday norms passing through the area and I believe I created a fun and enjoyable experience for passers by and made them smile.

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Pilot Test.

After setting up my concept I asked my friend to interact with the balloons, many passers by stopped to watch, ask what was going on and to try out the experience for themselves.

The interactive experience proved to be very engaging and amusing to people passing by, it achieved and executed my ambition to create a more fun and playful area, people took the time to stop rather than walk straight through (shown in my final video).

Although all the reactions I recieved were positive, it wasn’t how I initially planned out my concept. I wanted people to walk through a ‘wall of balloons’ however, I had created more of a drumkit design. This was due to the shortage of metal wire I had, as there wasn’t enough to reach the balloon across the other side of the space. Due to these results I decided it was best to repeat my concept (after buying more wire). 

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Full Processing instructions for sketch. I made use of the ‘Minim library’ we learned about, the coded keys ‘if’ possibilities and the ‘rewind’ commands.

import ddf.minim.*; //import minim files to read audio

Minim audio;

AudioPlayer tune1;  //what is refered to as the file

AudioPlayer tune2;

AudioPlayer tune3; void setup() {  

size(100, 100, P3D); //P3D asks for more memory  

audio = new Minim(this);   

tune1 = audio.loadFile ("UP.wav"); 

 tune2 = audio.loadFile ("DOWN.wav");  

tune3 = audio.loadFile ("LEFT.wav");  

} void draw() {

} void keyPressed() { //camel  if (key == CODED) { //checks if the key pressed is a coded key   

if (keyCode == UP) {   

tune1.play();     

tune1.rewind(); 

}  

 if (keyCode == DOWN) {    

 tune2.play();     

tune2.rewind();   

}   

if (keyCode == LEFT) {   

tune3.play();

tune3.rewind();    

}  

  }

    }

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Plugging each balloon to it’s coordinated crocodile clip.

As I was connecting each balloon to the makeymakey I was able to decided on the probability and chance that a noise would be created as someone walked past. I decided to have 2 Earth connected balloons and 3 drumkit sound effect balloons that would be attached to the arrow key choices on the makeymakey.

I connected the makeymakey to my computer through a USB and checked that my Processing sketch worked and created the correct sounds when I hit the earth balloons against the ‘sound effect’ balloons, making sure the tinfoil touched. 

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The process.

Wrapping a strip of tinfoil around each balloon with a ‘tail’ piece that metal wire could be wrapped around (acts like a piece of ribbon that will be able to reach the crocodile clips from the makeymakey) and allow the conductive materials to join and complete the circuit.

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After speaking to my lecturer and reflecting on my idea, I realised that my concept would not work the way I had intended, the circuit would not be complete by someone simply punching a balloon as both ends of the makemakey must be connected. (As seen in my previous videos, someone needed to hold the other end of the crocdile clip to close the circuit). As a result, I began to think about how I could close the circuit and formulated the idea of connecting a few of my balloons to the ‘Earth’ connection on the makeymakey. All the balloons would be wrapped in tinfoil and connected to the makeymakey with a metal wire from the tin foil on the balloon down to the crocodile clips.This meant that when people walked through the balloons it was dependent on their ‘wave’ in the air they created as to wether the balloons would touch, therefore, complete the circuit and create sound (drumkit sound effects). It would be an unique, individual and playful experience that would create a more fun, entertaining and enjoyable interactive space.