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Summer Project: Milling Aluminium

This summer we got a mill which is great cause it can create circuit boards and also engrave into things that the laser cutter can’t, such as aluminium. I decided to test it out on a relatively simple design, a stone cluster, though I eventually discovered that it was not nearly as simple as I had originally thought it would be. 

There were lots of little details and changes I had to make to things in order to get it to print but now when I need to use it again for more precise things it should (hopefully) be easier.

Another thing to consider when milling aluminium (and other materials) is that it will need to be sanded down when its completed and that you want to be sure that you have the necessary materials before you start.

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Summer Project: Creating from the Scraps

Over the summer as people (including myself) have been using the laser cutter, I have been assembling various scrap projects in an attempt to not waste any material and to give myself something to do after work.

The first came from the scraps of my 3D Printed/Laser cut container. I had scraps from faces I decided not to use in favor of others and from when I had to fix the scaling issue and reprint some of the sides. I took these pieces and created this:

I’m not completely done with it as I’d like to spray paint it and maybe make it into a tiny city with little pathways connecting everything but this felt like a good time to take progress photos.

The second project was made of scraps from a professor making an attachment for a drawer in his lab to keep things better organized. I then took the circles, drilled a hole through each one and worked to attach them all together without glue:

I’m not really sure what to do with this now that I have it though.

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Summer Project: 3D file to Laser Cutter

While practicing using OnShape, an online 3D modeling software, I discovered that it had an option where you could create technical drawings of your model. I then decided to make a shape that I could then take the drawings of and turn into a laser cutter file so that I could assemble it by hand instead of waiting for it to print.

Here is the final product, painted and assembled.

It was a bit of a struggle creating this and if I were to do it again I would: make sure that the drawings of the different views were all on the same scale from the start, edit the pieces so they have tabs that can be glued down for assembly, and be more careful about which pieces I took from each view so that there is less warping from viewing it at an angle. I could in the future also create the illustrator file face by face so that I could be 100% sure they were all the same, but that is just something I’ll have to consider for the future.

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Summer Project: 3D Doodler

This summer I found out we had a 3D doodler pen in our makerspace and so I got to try it out and made a little 3D stick figure with it with a little base so it stands up on its own.

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Summer Project: Etching Glass

Earlier this summer I discovered that our laser cutter could also etch glass! I decided to etch 2 different flower pictures that I took and photoshopped into one scene onto the glass.

the etching took about 2.5 hours and when it was done only needed to be cleaned with glass cleaner to get the small shards out.

I then created a colorful backing for the glass as I took this from a picture frame and wanted to be able to put it back in. I made the background but painting a loose grassy scene on the cardboard backing and by simplifying the etching into various shapes that I then cut out of different colored paper.

Unfortunately when I was putting them together in the frame again I accidentally pressed to hard and snapped the now more fragile glass. Once I get a new piece and etch onto it I can assemble them and post a final product picture

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iDesign Final Project: Speaking Mode

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Final Dress Lights and Code: Wakeup and Listening Mode

This is the final code and lights for the main dress in the Jellyfish Costume, eventually a sheer material will be added to make it look more like a jellyfish

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iDesign final project Test Code Video.

I’m not sure if it shows in the video but occasionally the lights flicker red and green during the listening phase when the lights in the room change intensity.

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Final Project: RGB "Pixel" Lighting

I will probably be meeting with my partner either after class next Thursday or in the morning next Friday, but I am waiting on them to decide the actual time.

I won’t need any LED strip connectors as I am using the Sewable Neopixels instead of the strips. I will need 57′8″ of black wire, 38′ of white wire, and it is 10″ to my light sensor. I think I will only need one JST connector, but I am not totally sure what the Sewable Neopixels will need. The cable to the light sensor should be white. 

The colors I want to use are:

White: (255, 255, 255) a bright white, may take the red down a bit to tint the white

Light Blue: (89, 219, 255) a light teal, mostly a mix of blue and green

Blue: (0, 0, 225) the classic LED blue matching the standard LEDs

Green: (0, 255, 153) a light teal green with an emphasis on the green

Purple: (233, 163, 255) a light purple, more of a blue purple than a red purple

Orange: (255, 154, 66) a light orange color, more yellow than red

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Lab 6: Collaborative Design

For the final project, my Costume Design 2 partner, Joyce, and I will be working on a Jellyfish dress. She will be building the dress, and I will be working on the technology that will go into it, lights, sounds, and a light sensor.

Her sketch, with material swatches, though the peach will actually be a darker color. The top will be white/iridescent material and very flow-y while the bottom will be the “tentacles” and will be made of a darker material so that the lights pop.

We plan to use 2 Black Dotstar strips of 15 lights/strip on the bottom half of the costume, as two of the tentacles and 24 sewable Neopixels on the top part of the costume, 12 on the front, and 12 on the back, sewn in groups of 3 (1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3) so that they can flow and chase and blink in patterns as needed and so that there will be fewer variables/pins used on the squarewear. The top and bottom will be programmed in the same patterns but will still be separate so we can light either just the top or just the bottom to add to the movement of the piece. We will be using a light sensor placed at the left shoulder of the costume so that it can catch the most light.

Our creature will have 4 basic settings/moods/personalities:

Standard/Flow: This will be speaker mode for the creature. Will twinkle between the lights in white/cyan colors at a calm speed as a “happy” tone song buzzes. 

Happy: This will be the second speaker mode for the creature. It’ll be cyan, blue, and green and the top will blink quickly between longer blinks involving the whole body. If there is a tone it would be only during the quick blinks at the end of the sequence as to not overwhelm the audience.

Nervous: This will be one of the listener modes for the creature. It’ll start off with the white and cyan and then blink and chase quickly through other colors such as green, purple, orange, or yellow. The color change will happen when it detects a bright light, as if another creature were moving towards it and it went into panic mode before running away.

Escape/Moving Towards Friendly Creatures: This will be the other listener mode for the creature. It’ll be white, cyan, and blue again and will blink between top and bottom sequences slowly as though it were moving, similar to how a jellyfish actually moves, starting at the bottom moving to the top then popping as it completes the motion. This one will be triggered by an area that is too dark, indicating that the jellyfish is alone and should look for others again. 

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Discussion: What is Technology’s Role in Health?

In today’s society, technology is practically everywhere, and in places where it isn’t yet it is working its way in. As more products are created it becomes even more important to daily life. One area where there have already been so many advancements has been in health/wellness, but at the moment there is still more that could be done. 

The Seal Swim Monitor for instance fills a gap in preventing emergencies in a much more effective way than ever before. I can see why this product could become very wide spread as it seems easy to use, lets kids have the freedom to swim as they wish without setting off an alarm, and has a very effective method of alerting adults that something is wrong. The only barrier I can see to this becoming wide spread would be the cost, but because it is for health/safety, and is coming from a research institution asking for donations, I have a feeling that they will genuinely try to make it as affordable as possible. 

The Fitness Tracking bracelet and Sports Bra Attachment are already widespread in today’s society, and it isn’t hard to see why. They let people see exactly what is happening with their bodies and give them complete control over what they do as they are more able to make an informed decision. And because so many companies see the desire, they are even relatively affordable (though some can get quite pricey) due to competition driving prices down in efforts to get the most consumers and the most profits. 

Links to the Videos Discussed:

Seal Swim Monitor: 

https://youtu.be/2toN3OeSbTg

Fitness Tracking Tech:

https://youtu.be/pjKA0-PSA9k

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The complete interaction of Freddie and Lily.

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Project 5: Eye Design

Project 5 focused on two creatures talking to each other through lights and light sensors. Our creatures were a rabbit and a tiger, named Freddie and Lily respectively. 

The rabbit, Freddie, is made of white felt, conductive thread, white thread, stuffing, two blue LEDs, two white LEDs, a squarewear, stuffing, and sharpie ink.

The tiger, Lily, is made of yellow-orange felt, black felt, yellow thread, black thread, conductive thread, two white LEDs, a red LED, a squarewear, stuffing, and sharpie ink.

Lily’s Schematic Diagram

Freddie’s Schematic Diagram

Lily’s Wiring Diagram

Freddie’s Wiring Diagrams

Final pictures of Freddie

Final pictures of Lily

Timing Chart for the Story

Rabbit Call 1: Happy tune and blinking, going about its day

Tiger Response 1: Blinks, singling out its prey

Tiger Call 1: Tiger Roars and blinks faster, moving towards the rabbit

Rabbit Response 1: “Screams” and runs away into a cave

Tiger Call 2: Moves slowly towards cave area, searching for the rabbit

Rabbit Response 2: Slowly turns on and looks around (blinking) for tiger

Rabbit Call 2: Eyes are open and still; the rabbit determines it safe to come out 

Tiger Response 2: Eyes open, found the rabbit

Rabbit Call 3: Blinks slowly and hums, calling for peace

Tiger Response 3: Blinks back

Tiger Call 3: Eyes open, looking at rabbit, purrs

Rabbit Response 3: Blinks confused, hums a sad/questioning tune

Tiger Call 4: Walks towards rabbit

Rabbit Response 4: Hops towards cave again, goes inside breifly

Rabbit Call 4: Rabbit returns and presents a carrot to the tiger

Tiger Response 4: Tiger smiles and closes eyes in happiness

Lily’s Script

Freddie’s Script

Some new features to this project were the light sensors, making the two creatures interact, and writing code in groups. The light sensors were a bit finicky at first but once we got the hang of them they were actually pretty cool and allowed for some interesting coding choice. The hardest part was writing code together that would correspond when brought together, though that was mostly because it was spring break and it was difficult to meet over break.

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Lab 5: Eye Design

Partner A's light sensor value: __960__ (on) ___184__ (off)  __380__(ambient) ___500__(Threshold)

Partner B's light sensor value: __965__ (on) ___104___ (off)  __890__(ambient)__900__(Threshold)

2.1 Above code tells computer to turn on light if the sensor detects light greater than the threshold.

2.2 Code should go in the loop function just below the definition of value code.

2.3 When both reflector codes are running, neither squarewears light up.

2.4 When both are set up to light in the dark, then both will light up separately but when they are put together, only one will light up because the other will be in the light from the first and will then decide to be off.

3.1 In speaker mode, it is telling the squarewear to turn on white with a delay as it blinks.

3.2 Listen will tell the sensor to look for the light value, and depending on the value, turn on red in response.

3.3 Covering the light sensor turns only one on because listen on the other board can’t get input with the sensor covered. 

3.4 When a bright light is on the board, the red light turns on full time as it is constantly listening to what is happening.

3.5 When both have the code, they both call and respond to each other in alternating time.

4.1 Covering the sensor in the calibration makes it so that when it is covered it is on and un covering it makes it blink, I think this is because when it is covered it is on bright and when it is uncovered it tries to recalibrate. 

4.2 Loading blink and calibrating to it causes them to blink in unison with the blink triggering the other code to activate. 

4.3 With both calibrating to the other they then blink on and off in unison when they test to see if the calibration is correct.

5.1 Higher frequency number makes a higher pitched sound, lower frequency number makes a lower pitched sound.

5.2 Changing frequency could lead to creating music or different “voices” for the creatures depending on the tone of their buzzes.

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Discussion: Why is Crappy Compelling

I think there is something to be said for making “crappy” robots and technology, for several reasons. The first being that having space for people to make mistakes and learn from them, or just enjoy them as mistakes is huge, especially when trying to get people to branch out and try new things. By allowing people to screw up in some ways but be rewarded for what works without penalty or being laughed at these types of events and videos can allow people to grow. These videos can change how people see technology because it doesn’t just show the smooth, complicated end product, but also all the tests and such that lead up to it, and how the person who made it feels about the process. These certainly helped change my vision of technology because they showed that there are at least some people out there who want to let people enjoy themselves while they learn, and that there are more people out there who make cool stuff and celebrate newcomers than there are people who look down upon those who know less, there’s less of a classic us vs them feel when videos and events like these are wide spread and that is something really encouraging. 

I think that these videos will definitely inspire more participation as they show how you can start with the basics and that screwing up is completely okay. They help to bring it back to reality for people. I really like the idea of a “Hebocon” personally and I feel like some of my friends would too, because a lot of people seem interested in robotics and inventing things, but there is always the feeling that it is too out of reach or expensive, so having a whole event about making simple things out of essentially found materials and some wire and a computer chip is really awesome. 

Links to the videos being discussed:

The Chopping Machine:

https://youtu.be/2u8E-4YVANU

Hebocon:

https://youtu.be/NNa1BzYeKrA

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Project 4: Emotional Creatures Project Video

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Lab 4: Story Telling

Lab four is about changing code to change the behavior of an LED on a squarewear.

Pushing the button turns off the LED on the squarewear. To reverse this behavior I modified the code from input to input_pullup so that the button would then turn on the LED, which was an important change to make all the other steps work much better.

Holding the button down triggered the change of light sequence. Originally, due to a coding error on my part, a quick press didn’t do anything but once the error was fixed it set off the sequence too so that there wasn’t really a difference between a quick and a long press. With the error fixed, both set off the sequence the same way.

In part three, because the code was designed so that pressing the button would change the color of the light each time it was pressed, it changed it so that holding down the button didn’t really do anything. This is different from part two because now the length the button is held down matters for what the LED does.

Shining a light on the light sensor on the squarewear turned on the LED. From there I modified the code so that light would turn it off because I wanted to see if I could and also because that seems like a more useful function though it would be harder to test depending on where the sensor is. I also changed to color from red to cyan because I prefer the aesthetic.

I actually chose 4 values for the light threshold; 50, 450, 925, and 950. I chose these because I wanted a low, a medium, and a high value, and then I worked down from the high value to try and get the exact threshold needed to have it turn on with a light on it. All light up with the flashlight, and 50 and 450 light up in both resting and when lit while 925 and 950 light up only with the flashlight.

The number in the Serial Monitor changes depending on how much light is there, with a roughly 913 resting, 110 covered, and 993 when lit with a flashlight. I find either 920 or 450 to be pretty good thresholds depending on what the goal for the light is.