For this final project id like to explore the illusion, magic and transcendence of the “wireless” connection between two boxes. These long rectangular acrylic and wood boxes will stand across each other at a distance. The first is empty with apparently nothing in it. The second is filled with water. When the audience reaches their hand into the empty (receiver) box, the motion of their hand will be mimicked as if it was disrupting the water physically.

The technology that will make this happen will be limited to a (2 x ~10) matrix of infrared sensors and/or ultra sonic distance sensors. This matrix will correspond (with the aid of some helpful coding) to a same sized matrix of muscle wire which pulls down on a flexible/waterproof bed, in turn moving the water above it.
What interests me most about this is the virtualized result of a “dry hand” moving a wet substance. So i thought of a conceptual addition, having the light of the room, and a matrix of green lasers within the water, controlled by how fast you move your hand in the dry (receiver) box. So that the lights of the room slowly dim while a green matrix appears within the water, as it moves around more violently. Perhaps even touching the water itself will give a reaction to the piece. However, either way i would like to expand this idea to reach outward to the room in some theatrical fashion.

Well, my project involves utilizing the effects of layering to take an action, drawing, and creating a distance between the viewer and the product of the action. If that doesn’t make sense (which I am sure it doesn’t)…. Let me explain! I am fascinated by the concept of layers. There are multiple reasons as to why I have this fascination, but I do not want to bore you with an unnecessary tangent. Anyways, my proposal for this project involves creating an interactive installation that involves Kinect technology and a viewer to interact with layers and layers of drawings. My idea is to take a landmark in the city of Chicago, “Cloud Gate” or as we all know it, “The Bean.” Why such an overseen, overvisited, almost cliche landmark? If I were to strip layers away from this scene, such as the reflections on the chrome sculpture, or the hair of the visitors viewing it, even the bodies of the people in front of it, how would our perception of this legendary piece change? How would demographics, gender, time of day, time of the year, affect how we perceive The Bean…? This is basically what I am curious about when pursuing this project. But also, incorporating the action of drawing. Why drawing? Well, I love to draw…but because it is – like the death of print journalism…. a “dying art.” I want to play on this by, myself, creating hundreds of drawings and then digitalizing them, creating a distance between society and the hard copies of these sketches. I plan on possibly using Rhino to create hard copies of these and playing with Kinect to create a visual installation for viewers to scan through.

quick sketch

Colortest_Room copy

The concept of this project was coming from a memory. When I was a child, I took the bus to school, and I always want to grab the bus handle, but it was too high to reach. Thus, I was thinking, what if the length of bus handles could be adjust?

So I think I can put a sensor on the handle, could be a voice sensor, or a motion sensor, when the sensor receive the action, then it will send a signal to the wheel which hide on the top of the bus, it will start to rotate and the handle will go down, and there are two buttons on the side of the bus handle, use to stop the wheel, and retract the handle.

• What fabrication technologies will you use?  CNC? Laser cutter?  Clay?

I haven’t decide the material, but I would use the laser cutter to make the model.

• What kind of space do you need to show it?

A wall should be fine.

• What kind of sensors do you need?

Voice sensor or motion sensor.

• What kind of components, wire, etc will you need?

I will need a signal transmitter and a signal receiver.

• What skills do you think you are missing?

Coding.

Took these photos during critique.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.506624276016987.117865.100000082564017&type=1

Use this to control to muscle wire (replace motor with flexinol muscle wire)

Use TIP122

Buy it here:

www.dynalloy.com

You have to phone your order in to get the cheapest prices.  Don’t order it online!!!  Also, it takes about a week to receive everything.  Their tech sheets are also pretty useful.

This is how you should wire up your Stiquito:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzPsq7-MfIZMZ1Rya1M5VlQyVHM

Don’t forget to solder wires to the top of each set of legs and into that little hole behind the headers.

Code:
int pwmPin0 = 3;
int pwmPin1 = 5;

int potPin = A3;
int potReading; //take an analog reading from the sensor
int pwmSpeed;
void setup(){

Serial.begin(9600);

}

void loop() {

potReading = analogRead(potPin);

Serial.print(“Analog reading = “);
Serial.println(potReading);

//potReading = 1023 – potReading;

pwmSpeed = map(potReading, 0, 1023, 0, 255);

analogWrite(pwmPin1, 0); //first set of legs
analogWrite(pwmPin0, pwmSpeed);
delay(4000);

Serial.print(“Analog reading b = “);
Serial.println(potReading);

pwmSpeed = map(potReading, 0, 1023, 0, 255); //second set of legs

analogWrite(pwmPin0, 0);
analogWrite(pwmPin1, pwmSpeed);
delay(4000);

}

If you’re looking for a way to scale down your Arduino projects, help kickstart TinyDuino. It has all the power of an Arduino Uno packed into a chip smaller than a quarter. While existing Arduino Mini’s and Nano’s are compact, they lack power and some of the best features of arduino: Shields. The best part about TinyDuino though is that it has stackable shields, meaning you can potentially use motors, bluetooth, wifi, accelerometers and more without turning your project into a massive brick.