I really like the realism and interaction with the windows on this video:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rPr0CgvmBM4
It was projected on the Ralph Lauren Bond Street Store.
I enjoyed the fact that there were human figures on the building. I also enjoyed the "pretend" lighting up of the building from the inside. The light moving through the building lit up the windows as if it were really inside.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Sketch One Reflections
Reflections on the Dancing Egg
====
There were several postive aspects to our performance and also a few negatives:
Positives:
Scene setup
- Andrea's costume, the lighting, and the aesthetics surrounding the egg all turned out very nicely.
- We were aiming for a mysterious, earthy atmosphere and I feel like we acheived it.
Sound production
- I feel like this was the best part of our production.
- We created meaningful sounds that helped the audience understand what the egg was feeling even though it wasn't moving :(
Choreography
- Andrea's dancing was very believable and it added to the performance quite a bit
Negatives
No motion :(
- The egg's battery was high enough to run the Arduino board, but too low to actual move the motors..
(Lessons -- 1. Always check the battery and test the full range of operability before the performance
2. Make the battery easily replacable)
Lack of Responsiveness
- Although Andrea did a good job of learning the system, the proximity detection method we implemented just wasn't fully robust.
Limited performance space
- Andrea was limited to the view-area of the webcam we used, which turned out to be about an 8 ft square
All in all, I was proud of what we accomplished, but wished we would have been able to demonstrate our product flawlessly.
-Jonathan
====
There were several postive aspects to our performance and also a few negatives:
Positives:
Scene setup
- Andrea's costume, the lighting, and the aesthetics surrounding the egg all turned out very nicely.
- We were aiming for a mysterious, earthy atmosphere and I feel like we acheived it.
Sound production
- I feel like this was the best part of our production.
- We created meaningful sounds that helped the audience understand what the egg was feeling even though it wasn't moving :(
Choreography
- Andrea's dancing was very believable and it added to the performance quite a bit
Negatives
No motion :(
- The egg's battery was high enough to run the Arduino board, but too low to actual move the motors..
(Lessons -- 1. Always check the battery and test the full range of operability before the performance
2. Make the battery easily replacable)
Lack of Responsiveness
- Although Andrea did a good job of learning the system, the proximity detection method we implemented just wasn't fully robust.
Limited performance space
- Andrea was limited to the view-area of the webcam we used, which turned out to be about an 8 ft square
All in all, I was proud of what we accomplished, but wished we would have been able to demonstrate our product flawlessly.
-Jonathan
The Chronicles of the Dancing Egg
Part 5
Tuesday 2/12/13 2pm - 2am
- Finished the construction of the egg
- Covered the egg in twine to add to aesthetics and cover up electronics
- Brainstormed and decided on placement of Thomas's laptop
- Added sound and created musical phrasing
- Andrea praticed with the completed module
- Tested proximity sensing
Part 5
Tuesday 2/12/13 2pm - 2am
- Finished the construction of the egg
- Covered the egg in twine to add to aesthetics and cover up electronics
- Brainstormed and decided on placement of Thomas's laptop
- Added sound and created musical phrasing
- Andrea praticed with the completed module
- Tested proximity sensing
The Chronicles of the Dancing Egg
Part 4
Monday 2/11/13 1:30pm - 5pm
Technical Rehearsal
====
The technical rehearsal went fairly well, however we noticed several issues.
First, we were still unsure how the egg would fare once the top portion was added.
Second, the proximity tracking program would lose sight of Andrea as she moved her head in different directions.
Third, our control station was literally right inthe way of the performance space
Part 4
Monday 2/11/13 1:30pm - 5pm
Technical Rehearsal
====
The technical rehearsal went fairly well, however we noticed several issues.
First, we were still unsure how the egg would fare once the top portion was added.
Second, the proximity tracking program would lose sight of Andrea as she moved her head in different directions.
Third, our control station was literally right inthe way of the performance space
The Chronicles of the Dancing Egg
Part 3
Sunday 2/10/13 2pm - 5pm
Thomas and I successfully soldered the two infrared transmitter modules (one for the egg and one for Andrea's head) onto PCBs.
====
In other news, Thomas, Federico, and Andrea had worked Saturday night and tested the proximity detection as well as created the new version of balancing and moving the egg (using a lead egg fishing weight).
====
The two infrared LED modules were relatively simple to design, but were harder to solder. After getting one module soldered, we realized that the infrared light wasn't very bright. Because of this, we decided to remove one resistor from each of the LED circuits to allow more current to pass through.
Part 3
Sunday 2/10/13 2pm - 5pm
Thomas and I successfully soldered the two infrared transmitter modules (one for the egg and one for Andrea's head) onto PCBs.
====
In other news, Thomas, Federico, and Andrea had worked Saturday night and tested the proximity detection as well as created the new version of balancing and moving the egg (using a lead egg fishing weight).
====
The two infrared LED modules were relatively simple to design, but were harder to solder. After getting one module soldered, we realized that the infrared light wasn't very bright. Because of this, we decided to remove one resistor from each of the LED circuits to allow more current to pass through.
The Chronicles of the Dancing Egg
Part 2
Friday 2/8/13 9am - 5pm
Today I figured out the wireless transmission over the two XBee modules
====
After running into the problems on Wednesday night, I brought all the solutions together and worked on configuring the modules.
====
I then went out and bought us a new servomotor. The one we had received turned out to be a continuous rotation servo, and this caused problems in created reproducible "wobbling" motion.
I visited a local hobby shop called "HobbyTown USA" and the manager there was very helpful in guiding my selection of the correct servo and giving other advice about the project.
====
Thomas, Federico, and I worked together to put the motor and wireless system together with the egg. Thomas coded the software to track infrared light that morning, so we also combined that part of the project in and got the Arduino and his software to talk to each other over wireless serial communication.
====
At the end of the day we demonstrated the project to Dr. Seo
Part 2
Friday 2/8/13 9am - 5pm
Today I figured out the wireless transmission over the two XBee modules
====
After running into the problems on Wednesday night, I brought all the solutions together and worked on configuring the modules.
====
I then went out and bought us a new servomotor. The one we had received turned out to be a continuous rotation servo, and this caused problems in created reproducible "wobbling" motion.
I visited a local hobby shop called "HobbyTown USA" and the manager there was very helpful in guiding my selection of the correct servo and giving other advice about the project.
====
Thomas, Federico, and I worked together to put the motor and wireless system together with the egg. Thomas coded the software to track infrared light that morning, so we also combined that part of the project in and got the Arduino and his software to talk to each other over wireless serial communication.
====
At the end of the day we demonstrated the project to Dr. Seo
The Chronicles of the Dancing Egg
Part 1
Wednesday 2/6/13 4pm - 2am
Today Federico and I worked on finishing the construction of the Egg and I began working on the Wireless Communication setup using the XBee transmitters.
====
Our first challenge was to get the Egg to stand up on it's own. We brainstormed and thought of many different alternatives:
- Using a brick
- Using a rock
- Using small rocks
- Using sand
- Cutting a flat surface on the bottom
- Using rope to flatten the bottom
We finally decided on using small pebbles (found outside the Architecture building) because when the base of the egg was scooped out, the smaller pebbles could fit better and added density.
Both the brick and the rock were two irregularly shaped and thus caused the egg to fall over often.
====
The next challenge involved getting the egg to move. We came up with these alternatives:
- An upside-down pendulum using a servo motor at the base of the egg and a stick with a weight on the end.
(This method proved unsuccessful, as the weight would not come back up after the egg had tilted to the side)
- A normal pendulum
(This method also proved unsuccessful as the top portion of the egg could not hold the weight of the motor and pendulum. In addition, putting any weight on the top of the egg caused even more balance issues)
- Water weight
(As shown in this video: <insert link>, we tried using the shifting weight of water to "wobble" the egg, but it was too inconsistent.
====
Work with the XBee shields:
Then I first plugged in the XBee to the Arduino and the computer, I thought it would work perfectly.
It didn't.
After working with it all night, these problems surfaced:
First I figured out that the computer needed to be configured with FTDI drivers. These drivers enabled the computer to "see" the XBee that was attached.
Second, I needed an interface to configure the XBee. The standard program recommended by Sparkfun is only built for Windows, so I had to find another one called "CoolTerm".
====
Part 1
Wednesday 2/6/13 4pm - 2am
Today Federico and I worked on finishing the construction of the Egg and I began working on the Wireless Communication setup using the XBee transmitters.
====
Our first challenge was to get the Egg to stand up on it's own. We brainstormed and thought of many different alternatives:
- Using a brick
- Using a rock
- Using small rocks
- Using sand
- Cutting a flat surface on the bottom
- Using rope to flatten the bottom
We finally decided on using small pebbles (found outside the Architecture building) because when the base of the egg was scooped out, the smaller pebbles could fit better and added density.
Both the brick and the rock were two irregularly shaped and thus caused the egg to fall over often.
====
The next challenge involved getting the egg to move. We came up with these alternatives:
- An upside-down pendulum using a servo motor at the base of the egg and a stick with a weight on the end.
(This method proved unsuccessful, as the weight would not come back up after the egg had tilted to the side)
- A normal pendulum
(This method also proved unsuccessful as the top portion of the egg could not hold the weight of the motor and pendulum. In addition, putting any weight on the top of the egg caused even more balance issues)
- Water weight
(As shown in this video: <insert link>, we tried using the shifting weight of water to "wobble" the egg, but it was too inconsistent.
====
Work with the XBee shields:
Then I first plugged in the XBee to the Arduino and the computer, I thought it would work perfectly.
It didn't.
After working with it all night, these problems surfaced:
First I figured out that the computer needed to be configured with FTDI drivers. These drivers enabled the computer to "see" the XBee that was attached.
Second, I needed an interface to configure the XBee. The standard program recommended by Sparkfun is only built for Windows, so I had to find another one called "CoolTerm".
====
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Arduino XBEE resources
http://www.instructables.com/id/Xbee-quick-setup-guide-Arduino/step5/Done/
https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide
https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide
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