ume Updates

Updated as of 29 October 2016

Over the past 2 weeks, we have completed the code for the individual parts of ume. However, here are some concerns:

  • Flickering Flame Effect

flicker

Light output is not bright enough to be seen under normal day light, we are considering of changing it to WS2812 LED. However, we will first be testing our ultra Yellow LED lights first before changing it to WS2812. (Just purchased Yellow LEDs today)

  • Distance Sensor
    The distance sensing using the HC-SR04 works well in small spaces. But when testing the same code and setup in a larger space like the IM lab, it produces sudden, extremely large values making the flame effect jumpy. We will test out the icube distance sensors this week which hopefully produces more stable readings.
  • Motor Output

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A short pause occurs when sensing continuous motion. Will be re-examining the code to resolve it

 
The following week will see us:
1. integrating the different codes into one code
2. continue building the ball
3. ume to work properly individually
4. attempting to connect 2 umes together

We are in the midst of building the physical components of ume, and have decided on using a pre-made hamster ball.

hamster-ball

Reasons for choosing it to house our electronics was of it having slots for wires to extend out, and the sizing is optimal. There are a variety of sizes for hamster-balls, raging from 10-14cm. We will be buying it second-hand off Carousell, getting one with a 11cm diameter for a start.

Other than the hamster ball, we have also considered getting empty, clear see-through Christmas baubles from Spotlight. However, we opted for the hamster ball as the christmas baubles was a little too small to contain our breadboard, even though it looked aesthetically more pleasing that a hamster ball.

Final Project by Yi Xian and Tania

LED Adafruit Strips (Mini Project) – Temperature sensor

I made a little device that helps to tell you what temperature your cup of cuppa is from the colour of the led light strip. Basically, warmer -> reddish undertone, colder (and nearer to room temperature) -> blueish undertone.

However, the temperature sensor took quite some time to sense the change in temperature, hence it might be better to use it to test when your hot water has sufficiently cooled, rather than how hot it is. As waiting for the hot water to cool down has a somewhat similar (ie. longer) timeframe available for the temperature sensor to sense the actual temperature.

 

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Up: Final Prototype

How it was made:

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The temperature sensor poked through a tiny hole in the cardboard. Place the cup above this hole.

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An example of different colours the LEDs were capable of. Blue (cold), Red (warm)

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An Arduino Uno, and Adafruit library was used to make the code.