Final Prototype and Installation

After a long day and night's work, we got basically everything working.. the play/record sound module, the foil sticker, conductive paint, and metal flashing capacitive sensors, some cool new super-bright LEDs. Of course it didn't quite work at the review today, but what can you do. We put together a more polished ala graffiti research lab video of the whole process... enjoy!




The review was fantastic. We got great feedback and advice and everyone had their own take on how to develop and use the prototypes we'd developed. Thanks, all!

Starting Final Prototype and Installation

The major work today was on our prototype installation. First, the armature for the metal flashing, and secondly, testing the conductive paint.


The conductive paint turned out to be quite easy to work with. It goes on very thin (we applied 3 coats - it comes in an aerosol can) and dries quickly. We just used a scrap piece of foam core for now.

We were able to calibrate the flashing and conductive paint (about the same area of material for both) to give good results. The output is the dimming LEDs using the PWM pins on the Arduino - the recording module is in the photos but doesn't have power so it's not functioning.

Here are our components so far.

Here's a video of the working prototype. Watch the red and green LEDs in the lower-left corner change brightness based on proximity. (The recording module is wired in but doesn't have power.)

We'll be presenting our project with the Living Architecture review this Thursday, and hope to install the prototype in the school at the Visual Studies/CAD show early next semester. Stay tuned!

Prototype 9 - Flashing on the Wall

Prototyping, and armature development this week.

Prototyping:

We brought back the LEDs to indicate proximity using the PWM pins on the Arduino. There's a green one for the 'play' sensor, and a red one for the 'record' sensor. This functionality is independent of the play/record function, but it's based on the same sensed value.

Armature/Installation Development:

We're making a 'wave' of flashing (sheet metal) attached to the wall. This will be portable enough to install practically anywhere, but at 4' long it's still a substantial piece of material. This in combination with foil stickers and/or paint will show the variety of ways we can use (cheap) metals as proximity sensors.

The working prototype on the wall:

We were having trouble with grounding. With this big a piece of metal, we needed to run the Arduino off of and AC plug rather than the 9V battery. This is definitely more of an 'installed' than on-the-go solution.

Wood ribs attached to a backbone will hold the flashing in a wave shape off the wall.

Design sketch:


The ribs and nailer in the shop: