My project is the story of a bird that responds to environmental changes. When you “plant trees” (turn on green LEDs), the bird starts flying. When you “cut trees down” (turn off the green LEDs), the bird stops flying. The motion of the wings is created by spinning wheels back and forth.
I came across a few problems with my project, mainly in construction. The first motor I used wasn’t strong enough so the motion was very minimal. I switched to a stronger motor, and switched material from plastic to cardboard and wood, which was lighter. I also had some challenges with trying to hot glue the bearings into the wheels, and figuring out how much to spin in either direction so the the bars didn’t mash into one another.
Video: https://youtu.be/nyTpDJqq0ow
Fritzing and sketch: assignment4_nina_prakash
I really liked the simplicity of this project which was very effective in telling an interactive story, as well as the rather ingenious mechanism you used to make the birds wings flap. In terms of changes, then I would suggest maybe (for a future iteration) making some sort of visual for the environmental/tree cutting aspect of the project that connects more with the user than green LEDs. Other than that, really great concept and execution. 🙂