Book: Making Things Talk

At this stage, I managed to get my hands on the "Making Things Talk" book, and it had many projects which sparked many ideas for my hidden arduino project, 

Week 3

We started off the lecture with a breakdown of some initial ideas members in the group had come up with at this present stage, with regards towards their main project. Some of them were:

• An interactive suitcase - with many electronically objects inside which linked to the creators background and history.
• An interactive Pumpkin
• Treadmill - with an interactive work out, which is used to created an output or change an image on a projected screen.
• RSS feed - with real time information that changes an output like a projected image.

These were some of the ideas of my other class mates, but at this stage I haven't come up with anything solid, but I hope within the next few weeks I will have something of interest to work towards my final project, due in week 14.

What Is The Purpose Of Arduino

During this lecture we were presented with a brief list of the purpose of the arduino board, these were:

1. Monitor conditions and changes environment
2. Execute different sorts of action in response
3. Create

Through this we were encouraged to try and create something that used a non technological object that had technological functions.

This sparked ideas for me to create a mini project such as:

• A box with buttons which controls LED's and as you press it, it changes the function of the LED's 
• Bluetooth Arduino which once connected to a phone, the buttons on the phone will be used to change somthing, like maybe also turning on an LED.

Week 2

This lecture was a continuation of week 1. As we are required to create a mini arduino project, where the arduino and wires are hidden, we had an opportunity to refresh our arduino board skills by re doing simple circuits, like assigning a switch to an led. This was very helpful, because I realised that there were a few things that I was now rusty on with regards to putting circuits together and obtaining the correct code in order to make the circuit work. 

We were presented with a few solution as to how we can achieve a portable arduino device, these were:

• Battery Powered Arduino
• Bluetooth Arduino
• Arduino Mini

(Please click for informative external links)

Arduino Mini

Week 1 Continued...

As a summary of the week one workshop, it was initially very encouraging to be instantly known of the requirements of this module, especially because of the fact that this module is very similar to the Maverick Machines module at level 5 and it seems like its a continuation of that module. Just the opportunity to play around with the Arduino once more at a more complex level spark s a lot of personal interest.

Our lecturer stressed that process is more important than end product, and that is why I must focus on being creative during my process stage in order to get better marks. So far I haven't managed to come up with any solid ideas but I am sure in due course time many ideas will be revealed.

Takeaway Festival

This was also something else exposed to during the first workshop. The Takeaway Festival seems very interesting and is a great opportunity for digital artists to express their work in an organised environment. 

I quite liked the works on show because it has works on show that were innovative and creative, and were also works that I could relate to in terms of production because of the use of Arduino boards.

Please click here for the official website with links and videos that were shown to us during the first workshop with regards to the RFID device:

Takeaway Festival 2008

RFID

As previously stated, RFID cards were another resource we were exposed to during the first workshop. And RFID will be most popularly known as a device used in Oyster cards.

We know the whole purpose of Oyster cards in London and they have proven a very effective tool to travel with since the basic paper travel cards. But it was the technology behind the cards which was brought to our attention. We watched a demonstration video of how the card works, but most interestingly, it can be used with the Arduino boards with the help of an RFID card reader extension.

As you can see from this picture the extension is connected to the Arduino and with the correct coding implemented into the Arduino, the RFID card can be read, which can then be used to either simply collect data or perform another function. RFID tags come in so many different forms and sizes some even small enough to be embedded into human skin.

Please click this link to find out more about the RFID tags and it functions:

RFID

RJDJ

RJDJ is a patch designed specifically for the iPhone, and it allows you to created interesting sounds as it reacts to its surroundings.

We were shown a demonstrative video and from this we know that it makes instrument beats from sounds you make out into the real world. So for example if you clap your hands or tap on the table, this program will react to it in real time and create a repetitive sound from the sound the user has just made.

A statement from the official blog reads 

"RjDj is mainly listened to with headphones. Think of it as the next generation of walkman or mp3 player. The listening experience of RjDj is similar to the effects of drugs. Drugs affect our sensory perception, so does RjDj. RjDj is a digital drug which causes mind twisting hearing sensation."

Please click for the RJDJ blog with links, videos and downloads:

RJDJ.

Week 1

In week 1 we was introduced to the module and had a breakdown of all the assessment criteria. We have a total of three assessments to complete by week  14, with the second due in week 9. It was explained to us that the first assessment was due in week 5 to create a research journal and a studio presentation of our progress. We were also instructed to create a mini artifact were we were fully using the functions of the Arduino board but it had to be hidden. As being on the Maverick Machines course last year during level 5, we never used the Arduino as a portable handheld or hidden device, we always relied on power from either a usb cable or mains voltage.

So with that were exposed to various solutions in order to achieve this portable/handheld Arduino project. One was Arduino Bluetooth:

As you may have guessed this Arduino board can operate using a bluetooth setting, it can interact with any bluetooth device, such as phones and computers. We was also exposed to the fact that the arduino can be powered by a 9v battery.

In this image you can see that all that is required is a 9v battery clip and a 2.5mm power plug. These two need to be soldered together and with the battery there is enough power to operate th arduino, hence making it fully portable.

We were also exposed to various resources such as 

• RJDJ - which we watched a video of during the workshop.
  
• "Bloomberg" - new contemporaries exhibition
• RFID
• "Take Away" Festival
• thishappened.com
• FACT
• "Making Things Talk" Book