Physical – F15 60-223: Intro to Physical Computing

Visualizing Arduino Data

rpaetz — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:42:45 +0000

Arduino has come out with a serial plotter, but it leaves a lot to be desired. In order to visualize Arduino data, I have had better luck with processing. There is a sample program on the arduino site: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Graph. The processing code is a comment in the arduino sketch. You can download processing at: https://processing.org/download/

Also, the processing code didn’t work for me at first. I added the code I used at the end of this post, but it would be good to look at the code in the arduino sketch since it has a good way to draw a line graph.

// Example by Tom Igoe


import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort; // The serial port

PFont myFont; // The display font

String inString; // Input string from serial port

int lf = 10; // ASCII linefeed

int xPos = 0;

void setup() {

size(600,600);

// You'll need to make this font with the Create Font Tool

//myFont = loadFont("ArialMS-18.vlw");

//textFont(myFont, 18);

// List all the available serial ports:

printArray(Serial.list());

// I know that the first port in the serial list on my mac

// is always my Keyspan adaptor, so I open Serial.list()[0].

// Open whatever port is the one you're using.

myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);

myPort.bufferUntil(lf);

}
void draw() {

background(0);

// get the ASCII string:

if (inString != null) {

// trim off any whitespace:

inString = trim(inString);
/* replace this code with code to draw your data

String[] vals = inString.split(",");

// convert to an int and map to the screen height:

float y = float(vals[0]);

float x = float(vals[1]);

y *= -1;

x = map(x, -100, 100, 0, height);

y = map(y, -100, 100, 0, width);
// draw the line:

stroke(127,34,255);
arc(x-5, y-5, 10, 10, 0, 2*PI);

*/

}

}

void serialEvent(Serial p) { inString = p.readStringUntil(lf); }

“Babolat PLAY” by Babolat (2015)

robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:59:43 +0000

The Babolat PLAY is a connected tennis racket. The racket records data about every hit, including serves, swing angle, impact location, velocity, force, and spin. It pairs with your phone over Bluetooth. Babolat’s app uploads your data to the cloud, so that you can view the data after a game to analyze your swings. The battery lasts for six hours before needing a recharge, and the racket feels identical to comparable standard tennis rackets.

YouTube / Babolat – via Iframely

“Nimbus 2.0” by Nimbus (2015)

robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:39:03 +0000

Nimbus is the world’s first Smart towel rack, re-thinking how your bathroom works. The central premise is a sterilizing UV lamp, to kill the bacteria on your towel. The product is waterproof, but requires an outlet for power. Nimbus 2.0 also has a large digital screen, showing “a real-time display of temperature and time”.

Its touch-activated buttons allow you to power the device on and off with futuristic flair. If that weren’t enough, Nimbus includes a bluetooth stereo, linking to your iPhone to play music and answer calls in the shower with “80% music quality improved“.

In the words of the creators:

“Say goodbye to old-style bath, let’s enjoy the music feast brought by nimbus intelligent towel rack!”

Kickstarter / Nimbus – via Iframely

“Massage Me” by Mika Satomi, Hannah Perner-Wilson (2007)

racheln — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 17:03:02 +0000

“Massage Me” is a “wearable massage interface” that turns a back massage into a video game controller.

From their website:

Playing Massage me requires two people, one who wears the jacket to receive the massage and one who massages the person wearing the jacket. Soft flexible buttons are embedded in back of the jacket so that wearing it turns your back into a gamepad. All you need to do is to sit or lay down in front of a video game player and you will be able to enjoy a back massage while the game lasts.

Satomi and Perner-Wilson are not currently taking orders, but you can assemble your own by following their DIY guide.

“Universal Remotes for smart homes” by Revolv (2013)

kapolo — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:27:44 +0000

The name of the app is pretty self-explanatory. You manage all of your smart home add-ons and this app organizes them for you on your phone so you have complete access from your smartphone. Where this is more practical, it leans on the edge of pushing people to be overtly lazy. It is amazing technology because it interfaces with so many devices and is the epitome of an Internet of Things invention but I question its usage and abuse.

Revolv Raises $4M for ‘Universal Remote’ to Control Smart Homes

“Piper” by Icontrol Networks (2015)

rpaetz — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 06:15:53 +0000

Piper is a home security product that also links together other home automation products. The primary function of Piper is its camera. With a large field of view, Piper’s camera can monitor an entire room or open area of the user’s home. The live camera feed can be monitored remotely through a smartphone or tablet. Notifications can also be sent when Piper senses movement or when a connected IoT device is triggered. A user remotely monitoring their home can also use Piper to interact with people on the video feed. The primary motivation for using Piper is peace of mind. Piper allows the user to check in on their family, pets, things, etc. any time they feel worried about their safety. Additionally, the notification feature allows the user to know what is going on at their house in real time.

YouTube / Piper – via Iframely

“Mother” by Sense (2015)

rpaetz — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:58:54 +0000

Mother is a product that consists of a base station (also called Mother) and sensor “cookies” that the user can attach to a variety of objects. The Mother connects to all of the cookies and to your phone. This allows the user to be notified of events from the cookies. The cookies have temperature and motion sensors, and the activity that they track can be easily set and changed. This means that the user will not have to buy a huge number of the cookies if they are willing to switch them regularly. The adaptability of the sensors also allow for daily goals to be set and tracked, even if the goals vary wildly from day to day. Some examples that Sense gives for possible uses are: activity monitoring, pill schedule notifications, child tracking, and ranking who is the best at tooth brushing.

Vimeo / Sen.se – via Iframely

“Egg Minder” by Quirky (2013)

dsakamot — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:49:25 +0000

YouTube / Quirky – via Iframely

This is an egg tray that is wifi enabled so that it can tell you how many eggs you have left. I repeat, this is an egg tray with wifi. So that you can tell how many eggs you have left. No further comment.

“BodyGuardian” by Preventice (2014)

kmatharu — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 04:59:37 +0000

This product is a wearable and noninvasive wearable that tracks biometric data of patients and allows physicians to monitor them. The sensors measure things like heart rate, respiration rate, activity level, and blood pressure. Physicians can access the information online from anywhere and respond accordingly. The device is comfortable for the patient to wear and does not get in the way of daily activity. Security and patient privacy are also a large part in the design of the technology.

This product shows how Internet of things and connectivity can allow people to transmit important information even while not physically close. This kind of connectivity can save lives and have widespread applications in healthcare and communications. It also brings up the concern of how secure our information can be in a large network of personal data.

“Hapifork” by Hapi

varungpta — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 03:47:52 +0000

Hapifork is an electronic fork that keeps track of eating habits and vibrates when you are eating too fast. It keeps metrics such as how you long you spend eating and how many times you bring your fork to your mouth. It includes an online dashboard and mobile app to view the data that it collects.

YouTube / Joyus – via Iframely