Category: Assignment 5: Final

The idea was to create a bat that would respond differently depending on where it was “pet”. Since no linear softpots were available, this idea evolved into its current state using the rotary soft pot.

Much of the difficulty was getting the readings to be consistent, testing different mapping values (there’s no indication of how to map output values to pot inputs, whether it should be inches, radians, degrees around the rotary pot etc.) and figuring out why the pot wasn’t reading half the time. The pot does read in degrees it seems, and is better for touch detection in a certain area, rather than producing a spectrum of tones by running your finger along the circle.

Note: Despite what some websites recommend, do NOT connect softpot directly to power and ground. It will burn the pot.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6vucT1cFrpgeXJFWDhzSDA1MEk?usp=sharing

All files should now just be public.

 

 

 

 

 

My project is inspired by an anxious creature. I wanted to create this anxiety though the sound and movement. This relationship would be affected by the distance of the person interacting with the creature.

One large challenge was experimenting with sound and randomness in order to generate an organic chirp/noise. I also had difficulty getting the motor to turn, however this remained more of a hardware issue. In addition, I experimented a lot with the form and aesthetic. Initially the form did not seem to match the building chaos of sound, so I ended up using the wires to enhance the noise.

Fritzing and Code

Process:

For this project I was inspired by the accordion – the way it moves and creates sound – to make a musical instrument. The instrument is made of a living hinge with a flex sensor that controls volume, and keys that each play a note using an eight-channel capacitive sensor. I wanted to make an interactive piece with which you could create music, and I also wanted to explore the flexibility and organic feel of a living hinge.

The flex sensor and volume control part went pretty smoothly, but I ran into a few challenges with the capacitive sensors. The wires were very very sensitive if they bumped against one another, so in the end I could not have all 8 keys because the holes are too close together, so I had to do 4. If I could do this project again, I would add another speaker and more capacitive touch sensors so that I could play chords, and I would add an option to change the scale (default is A major). Overall, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out – I had fun playing with the living hinge and learning how to use capacitive sensors.

sketch: Assignment5-sketch-NinaPrakash

As shown through the prototype, this project is designed to simulate a common horror movie scene, where the background music plays faster with higher pitch as a character approaches closer to a subject.

Likewise, in this project, the user will be hearing a shrill sound that plays faster as he/she reaches his/her hand closer to a candy (I changed my  initial music choice from harmonic minor scale to a violin screech sound effect).

(picture of the final product)

(picture of the final product close-up)

(picture of interaction)

For the final product, I decided to use an ultrasonic distance sensor instead of an IR distance sensor, since the sensing range was broader, which thus, allows a smoother interaction. For the speaker, I decided to use a larger, 8 ohm 2 watt, audio speakers through an addition of audio amplifiers.

In order to enhance the spook-factor, I decided to add an output vibrator attached to the target treat, where it would start vibrating when the distance sensor reads the user’s location to be close enough to the treat.

Documentation in Google Drive (Video X /Fritz X /Photos X /Code X): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B70fyRiHk85qSW9vcDNuV0I2Y3c?usp=sharing

For this assignment, I set out to create a two-voice synth/sequencer. A major goal of mine was to be able to create each of the basic waveforms (I ended up with sine, square, triangle, and noise), so I made two R2R ladder DACs, each with a controlling arduino pro mini. The two pro minis were then controlled by an uno that told them what waveform to use, and what note to play. The uno had arrays of notes that it would tell each pro mini to play, and I threw together an interface for inputting them.

I’ve essentially learned that analog circuitry is really hard, especially on breadboards. I tried to do more thorough unit testing as I went on, trying different values for filters and making sure that I was getting the correct waveforms at the correct frequencies, but when all put together, it just kinda shat the bed. There were likely issues in the final signal combining and amplification, but then again, there were likely issues in every step. I think that in the future I’ll try and step away from using as much electronics and do something more material. I think this kind of project could have turned out well if I was able to put more time into it, but sadly I need to graduate.

At the very least, the sounds it makes are kinda spooky so it’s fitting for Halloween.

code

video

For this assignment I aimed to make a music pattern generator. I wanted to have an interface for the user to make a custom pattern and then the ability to play that pattern back and hear it as they see time moving across the pattern. I had a few iterations of ideas with sound that all focused on the user having the ability to customize what they were hearing. I was fortunate that Aditi let me use the 8×8 LED matrix with the backpack she attached, and this was perfect for showing a pattern of notes in time.

zip: assignment5

For this project, I integrated different musical melodies with objects around us. I wanted to use a set of objects with different weights, categorize them, and then produce separate musical identities of each object. While there is a range of objects available, only 3 sensors are available. So, different combinations using the objects produce slightly different experiences.

For the practice assignment, I used the playMelody Arduino tutorial  to be the tune set off by the ball and original backbone for the program (the weight is captured by an FSR). However I needed to change the program heavily to adapt for three sensors. The biggest challenge I faced was wiring the FSRs appropriately to the get solid and consistent readings.

Overall, I’m very happy with how the project turned out and learned a lot about sensors as well as programming this time around. If I were to improve, I would like to fine-tune the thresholds of the sensors and weights and also develop the program to play melodies in parallel with one another.

video

documentation, fritz, and code

For this assignment, I made a mini DJ turntable using a soft circular potentiometer, speaker, and some buttons/switches. The buttons and switches are only for aesthetic purposes, however, since I didn’t have time to figure out how to incorporate volume and play/pause into my code.

As you press the needle in different places around the record (the circular potentiometer), the speed of the song (Super Mario theme song) either increases or decreases.

Link to demo video, code, etc:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0yMpI_ZOcoYU2pTOVd2M2hWVDg?usp=sharing