Category Archives: Process

Final Assignment: Tamaduino

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We started off assembling the pixycam module, which wasn’t that difficult since it came with a set of instructions. However, we’ve had to calibrate the servos and adjust the pixymon software so that it was able to track perfectly. Once that was done, Anam trained it to look at objects of specific colors. We set Signature one to a red colored object, and signature 2 for objects in purple. We then hooked it up to an Arduino Uno and checked the serial monitor to register the tracking.

 

On my end, I was inspired by the Tamagotchi device that was displayed in the Human+ exhibition in the arts science museum, so I decided to emulate the look of it. However, I felt that the use of buttons was not really

bought a nokia 5110 lcd screen and downloaded the nokia 5110 adafruit library and animations before tweaking it. I looked through the animations and noted that the animations were actually done in programming and weren’t a series of bitmap frames. So I took the pacman animation and changed the direction of movement. After tweaking the values, I made a set of custom animations with the help of an online sprite animation software called Piskel

     

I then saved it as a series of images and extracted the bitmap information with the help of another software called LCD assistant. However, we ran into some issues with the if statement as we were unable to successfully get integer values from the pixymon signature/block string values. We eventually settled with running both animation loops going before making the cover with the help of some cardboard. We initially wanted to make the casings out of lego pieces, as they are easier to prototype. However, we changed to cardboard as the pieces were heavy and could constrict servomotor movement.

 

interactive device: Semester Pitch Proposal

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The first idea would be to design a touch based instrument, which is a set of makey makey sensors rigged to a t-shirt. The idea would be to turn the individual into the instrument. Other alternatives include a set of controllers which would be rigged to an MP3 player. The reason why this may be useful is because it eliminates the need to fumble through one’s pocket to manually change tracks.  An additional “lock” feature may be added to prevent any accidental contact.

The second idea would involve the use of a simple animated character that reacts to human interaction. The device would be a touchpad or a set of sensors that triggers a response. A similar device to this would be tamagotchi. Technically the main hurdle in creating such a device would be to setup the led screen. However, the input would be a simple button.

I will be adding a twist to this device in which the character would perform like a clicker device,  rewarding the user with new reactions and emotes based on the number of clicks received and the rate of clicking. For example, the more aggressive the user is with the device, the more movement/ action the animated character would make. This device is a statement on clicker-styled games on iOS/android games.

Pong controller: Documentation

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  For our group (nicholas makoto, goh chersee,xinfeng, maung phyo win zaw), we’ve decided to create a color based detection system for the pong controller. To use it, we’ve placed 2 differently colored foam pads, one is green, and the other is purple. The closer the colored pieces are, the more the pong paddle would go in one direction. For this assignment, we’ve decided to use a digital controller, which would cause the paddle to only move in one speed.

The way this works is as follows. The  “suckah” tab is placed over a camera feed and users can then click on a specific color to drawn. The color swatch is attached to the “suckah” tab to let users know what color is being registered. Once that is done, a rectangle is drawn, taking in the top left, right and bottom left and right coordinates. We used a mathematical expression to derive the area of the rectangle and created an if statement which moves the tab if it hits a certain threshold value.

An alternate way of calculating the value which was suggested was to take the differential area values between the green and purple value and use that to determine the position of the paddle, which would effectively make it an analogue controller. We’ve initially decided to use a color sensor, but due to the limitations of calculating and extracting different color values, and cost constraints of getting the sensor itself, we’ve decided against it. All we needed was a proof of concept placeholder that would still accomplish the final result of moving the paddle using a particular color.

 

Documentation of project

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  Our group members consist of me, Maung Phyo Win Zaw, Goh Cher See, Nicholas Makoto and Xin Feng.

For this project, our concept was to create an alarm clock which relies on hand pressure to switch off. The harder one presses on the alarm clock, the less amount of additional snooze time will be given. Additionally, the alarm volume will be potentially increased.

 

  The idea is to create an alarm clock that responds based on the awareness of the user. If one is more tired, the alarm clock will instinctively react and not disturb the user, if the user is awake enough but isn’t willing, the alarm will be set louder to “push” the user out of bed. To switch off the alarm clock, the user will have to smash on the pressure switch much harder.

  

  The project was separated into a few categories:  The first function was the clock countdown element, a smaller value of five seconds was set so that we could test it quickly. Secondly, three if statements were used so as to trigger three separate countdown values.

 The issue with using a pressure based sensing is that the input value constantly drops to zero whenever the user lifts his finger away from the pressure sensor, updating the computer until the input reads as zero. To solve this issue, we used a peak function to take the largest value, resetting the counter as soon as the user pressed on the pressure plate again.

  Finally, we matched the three bang functions (based on the pressure) into the volume bar, and added a fourth pressure value so as to stop the audio playback. We set a new value of the countdown timer.