The End - Week 13

All done. It all worked. Presentation went well. Chimes sounded good. Posters were well received. Just the report to go. Rather surprised it all came together but it did. It even looked decent (despite the lack of flock wallpaper).

Must dash. I'd forgotten how good sleep was. Maybe some food first. Possibly pie.

Cheerio.

Def-Con 2 --- Week 12

D-day approaches. In forty-eight hours, it'll all be over. (Hoorah!)

Lack of sleep has caused me to lose my marbles slightly, or rather my marbles were nuked and are now indistinguishable with the ashen landscape that surrounds them.

Good news is I've finished my bit. Posters are done except for a couple of paragraphs that the others are going to write. Just a matter of pasting it into the .psd file. Three posters. One introductory, eye-catching poster with a bit of blurb, one exclusively text based poster for all the theoretical stuff (sustainability and so forth), and one with a little bit of text and a three-frame storyboard for the interaction. Could've put in more frames, but a) I'm exhausted ad b) it's probably best to keep things simple, seeing as people will be seeing them who aren't familiar with the project.

As far as the actual physical project goes, well it seems the light at the end of the tunnel wasn't a fast-approaching train after all, which is always lovely. Just a couple of finally adjustments to the clock face to go. Personally, I think we'll have a pretty solid proof of concept, and provided Anton can stop trying to glue on random bits of junk he's found in the workshop, it should look halfway presentable.

That is all for this penultimate blog post. Cheerio and chocks away!

Week 10/11 - Light at the End of the Tunnel

Wow. 2 weeks until the deadline, and we've changed our design... again!

First we had the substitution of the winch idea for a kind of archimedes water screw that would lift numerous ball bearings up to the top of the receiver, to let them drop down the chimes again. In the end, it was decided that with our somewhat limited skill set, it would be wise to simplify the design. The original idea was that the chimes would be hung vertically in a circle, and a central reel with a beater attached would rotate with the help of some kind of drive shaft. We then extended this concept to arrive at our FINAL decision.

Each chime (still hung vertically, though now in a row rather than a circle) is aligned with a servo motor do-hickey, capable of 180 degrees of rotation. Attached to said motor is some sort of hammer. Piano string strikers were considered, but we are now most likely using glockenspiel mallets. when mail is received and the signal interpreted by the phidget, each motor will rotate in sequence, thus swinging the mallets and hitting the chimes. We have managed to configure one of the motors so that when a certain angle of rotation is achieved, the direction of rotation is reversed, thereby preventing "double hits" caused by the chime swinging slightly.

Though at first glance more complicated than a single motor driving a screw, there were far too many variables with the previous design that would no doubt require endless amounts of tweaking, which at this stage in the semester, we really don;t have time for. Once we get one of the motors working perfectly, it will just be a case of copy and paste. We have already constructed a shelf on which the motors can be mounted, and from whichthe chimes can be hung. I found that by threading fishing line through the length of the chimes and tying off at a certain point, it was possible to suspend them without drilling holes through the top, which apart from being a little tricky (not much of a metal-worker me) may well have affected the overall tone of the chimes.

In the next week we hope to track down some appropriate mallets for the chimes (that's my job) and get all four motors working and mounted. We're also constructing a small section of wall on which to hang the final receiver for the presentation. The slightly sub-standard mailbox we built will be getting its gaps sealed up and a much needed coat of paint. It's then just a matter of installing the sensor and arduino inside.

Provided we can get all of this done, we are also hoping to incorporate a flashing LED light array into the clock face, adding a more visual signifier that mail has been delivered. More on that as events unfurl.

Bloggery obligation fulfilled, methinks. Time for Tea!

Cheerio.

Week 8/9 - Comfortably Numb

It's miracle! New blog post! Everyone go to the lavatory in amazement!

We now have almost all components for our project. Just trying to find some appropriate chimes. Tested our spindle motor - shouldn't be a problem lifting 3 sinkers. As far as aesthetics are concerned, we're going off the clock we bought. Doesn't look too bad for eight dollars.

Hasn't been all sunshine and lollipops though. Yes dear reader, I speak of the now famous problems in our team. Won't name names, as most reading this will know the deal. All I will say is that attempts to resolve these issues have fallen on deaf ears, and it now seems that things must be taken to the next level. Enter the Villernator!

Will be posting again when progress in either direction has been made.

Cheerio.

Week 5 - A Job Begun is Half Done

Not much happened this week. Got the report finished off, which turned out to be a lot more helpful than I originally though it would be. Learnt that users preferred a receiver that stayed in one place but could be put anywhere in the house. At the moment we're thinking about making it hang on a door. Need to figure out how much power the tech needs so that we can decide upon a size of solar panel.

Asked Lochan and Anton whether they had any preferences about the aesthetics. That was a pointless exercise. To be honest they're getting very bogged down in the technology, looking to create a completely finished product. Proof of concept, guys! Shouldn't complain really, since the coding at least is going to be down to Lochan. Checked out the workshop. Seems nice.

That's about it at the moment really. Had three pieces of assessment due this week, so that was enough work. Next week we're hoping to get all the tech together and get the damned thing built. Jordan's going to build the actual mailbox (we decided it was best to make our own, as the inevitable chunkiness of the prototype technology might not fit inside an off-the-shelf box). Might do some drawings for him to work off.

Cheerio.

Week 4

Thunderbirds are go! After a rather frustrating start, I feel like all members of the group are on the same page. Anton's getting easier to understand, and Handyside's back from his illness. 

As I write this, work has begun on the project proposal report. I will be working on the background material section with Anton. Jordan and the other Sam are doing the intended audience bit, and Lochan is concentrating on constraints and the project timeline. Having said this, we're on Google docs so I'm sure we'll all end up doing a bit of everything. 

The presentation on Tuesday was... um... interesting. Feedback was definitely useful, but with three teachers and a guest expert there, it's pretty much impossible to get a unified opinion of our project. Our group had another meeting on Wednesday and sorted a few things out - mainly about the report. We should be fine for Monday. 

Thankfully, I'm now pretty much recovered from my fantastic Tuesday night, when I went to a concert of The Who. Hearing is still a bit muffled, but it was worth it.

Better be off. Lots of DVDs to watch... ahem... that is, lots of writing to do.

Cheerio

Bluetooth Research

Basically...

Bluetooth is a means of wirelessly transmitting data over low frequency radio signals. A typical signal has a range of around 10m. Below are a two links providing more information about the history and workings of bluetooth. There's also a video that talks about potential security issues.

HOW STUFF WORKS

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/bluetooth.htm

BLUE TOMORROW

http://www.bluetomorrow.com/content/section/10/37/

Cheerio.

Smart Post Box Concept

So here's the basic premise of our project.

Target Audience: suburban home.

Situation:

1. A letter (with RFID attached) is dropped into the solar-powered smart post box

2. The letter blocks an Infra-red signal. The RFID is read.

3. A micro-processor sends a message via Bluetooth or SMS to table-top receiver dome.

4. Message is processed by another chip inside the battery-powered dome device.

5. Series of fiber optics or LEDs on surface of dome light up and a tone is emitted. 

6. The colour and sound depends on RFID information.

Sustainability:

This system utilises existing technology, potentially a multitude of recycled calculator, mobile phone and laptop parts. The post box itself charges lithium batteries with solar power, and the dome device only requires a couple of batteries. Our group aims to make the system as energy-efficient as possible.

Above is an initial 3-D concept design for the dome device, focusing only on what the user sees. A cross-section view displaying the underlying technology will be available very soon, as well as similar renders of the post box.

Cheerio.

Week 3

This is a quick one. Got into groups. Members are myself, Jordan, Sam, Lochan, and Anton. Had a meeting on Wednesday to chuck some ideas around. 

- Identification/ House access chip

- 3-D Projection

- Electronic Magazine

- Heat Lamp Towel Rack

- Smart Post Box

We're pretty much decided on the smart post box idea. Waiting until Monday to finalise.

Cheerio.

Magnificent Men and their Spaceship Prototype

Thought I might put this up. It suddenly occurred to me that a lot of environmental damage is done by cars sitting in traffic jams. When the ground became too crowded to build more houses, we just worked our way upwards. Why not do the same with roads? Admittedly this is all very sci-fi but flying cars would certainly help. A History International documentary entitled "An Alien History of Planet Earth" investigated Nazi research into anti-gravity flight, and found a prototype craft constructed in Seattle. Pretty cool stuff.

Excerpt from "An Alien History of Planet Earth"

Review - Thermo-electric Generators/ bio-thermal energy

Basically...

The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany has developed a device which can convert body heat into electricity through differences in temperature. The resultant charge can then power mobile phones, MP3 players, an even laptops. This essentially transforms everyone on the planet into a totally portable power source, only running dry upon the death of the individual, who naturally would no longer require a mobile phone.

Relevance to Studio

There is arguably no better example of physical computing than this parasitic relationship between a device and its user. Additionally, the implications of this technology in the field of sustainability is staggering. With an increasing number of portable electronics being made available, the amount of power needed to recharge them also grows. Implementing thermoelectric generators into such items would dramatically reduce future damage to the environment.

Links

Fraunhofer Institute voltage converter press release

http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/Images/PR_Energy_harv_publ_engl_tcm278-138770.pdf

Fraunhofer Institute Research News

http://www.fraunhofer.de/EN/press/pi/2007/08/Researchnews82007Topic1.jsp

Week 2

Right. Pie finished. Time to get to work. 

Kind of tricky to nail down this week's topic. The word "ethnography" came up rather a lot. Lights in the lecture room were far too bright for concentration. Tuesday was fairly useful though. Talked about the importance of sustainability and specific people it affects. I'm personally rather fond of the concept of punishing unsustainable living rather than merely recommending that people buy a solar panel or two. LOTS of talk about the world ending and the human tendency to ruin everything. Maybe the human race has just had its chips. Something tells me that's not going to get me very far in the assignment. 

I seem to have rambled somewhat - Really should have done this earlier in the week. As far as the presentation on Monday goes, I should be alright. Going to mention the aforementioned interest in the punishment idea, as well as the 'infinitely upgradable' hardware concept to combat lack of attachment. 

Importance of sustainability? Well, until people figure out how to save the planet, the sooner we can go back to inventing interesting things. We could master space travel, anti-gravity, maybe even time travel. Something has to be done. I shall feel jilted indeed if hover-boards are not readily available in 2015... Back to the Future 2 made me a promise dammit!!! 

Note to self: try to avoid this spontaneous venting of splenetic fluid during the presentation.

Also going to mention a few ideas about the physical computing aspect. Using movement and interaction to influence sound, music and possibly colour. Love touch-screen, so that might come up. Pressure sensors and accelerometers are a must. Electric shock treatment as punishment is a strong contender, provided the voltage isn't cranked up too much.

Well, that's enough bloggery for one week. Hopefully that's worth around five minutes for Monday.

Cheerio.

Week 1

So it begins... Nothing like enforced blogging to while away hours that could be spent sleeping.

Mainly just figuring out what studio is all about. Discussed sustainability and potential technologies to use with group. Best idea relates to reducing landfill through longer lasting technology. Downloadable upgrades are bought online, funding companies whilst giving users enough time (roughly a decade) to become attached to their phone, computer or what have you.

Also considered combining numerous appliances into one unit to save space and energy. Only trouble with this is that one malfunctional item means replacing the entire collection. Could work if designed properly, so best not to let Microsoft anywhere near it.

Began researching sustainable energy. Rather intrigued by the idea of converting body heat into electricity. Potential for getting bogged down in technicality is a danger, but need to look into it more before a decision can be made.

Here endeth my first ever blog post. Need food. Possibly Pie.

Cheerio