PART 1

DC motor: Continuous rotation, very fast.

Servo motor: Turn 90° in either direction for a total of 180° movement. Have a position sensor inside for feedback.

Stepper motor: Precise positional control, move 1 step each time. No position sensor for feedback.

PART 2

Example#1

IMG_2834

A DC Motor fan which works for a while and rest for a while. I think it can be used for cooling down the computer when it operates tasks which generate lots of heat.

Example#2

A water pump made with a 6V DC Motor. I made a installation out of it. One side of the pump is up-taking water and the other is dropping the water in the same container. I used 4 AA battery as external power for the water pump and a potentiometer to adjust the speed of the water pump.

PART 1

IMG_1516

Goal:

I’m making a sound visualization project using Arduino as an input and Processing as an output.

Arduino: I’m using a photocell sensor to detect the light from the environment and map the data to use in Processing to control the alpha value of the floating points.

Processing: I’m using minim library to visualize the audio file and created 300 points floating with it.

Core components

1* photocell sensor
1 * 10k resistor
Wires & jumpwires
Arduino board

Circuit/Schematics

Code:

Arduino: StandardFirmata

Processing:

import cc.arduino.*;
import org.firmata.*;
import processing.serial.*;
import ddf.minim.*;
import ddf.minim.analysis.*;
import cc.arduino.*;

Minim minim;
AudioPlayer song;
FFT fft;
Arduino arduino;

int num = 300;
PVector[] posArray = new PVector[num];
float pTime = 0;
float vel;
PVector[] noiseArray = new PVector[num];

int sensorPin = 0;
int sensorVal = 0;
float newSensorVal;

void setup() {
size(1000, 800, P3D);
minim = new Minim(this);
println(Serial.list());
arduino = new Arduino(this, Arduino.list()[1], 57600);

song = minim.loadFile(“1.mp3”, 512);
song.loop();

fft = new FFT(song.bufferSize(), song.sampleRate());

for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
float r = random(300,400);
float theta = random(TWO_PI);
float y = r*sin(theta);
float x = r*cos(theta);

noiseArray[i] = new PVector(x, y);
posArray[i] = new PVector(0, 0);
}

arduino.pinMode(sensorPin, Arduino.INPUT);
}

void draw() {

background(0);
pushMatrix();
translate(width/2, height/2);
scale(1.5);
fft.forward(song.mix);
noStroke();
println(arduino.analogRead(sensorPin));
sensorVal = arduino.analogRead(sensorPin);
newSensorVal = map(sensorVal,800,960,50,250);
//float a= random(100,200);
fill(random(0,255),random(0,255),random(0,255),newSensorVal);
for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
ellipse(posArray[i].x, posArray[i].y, 2, 2);
}

popMatrix();

update();
}

void update() {

float time = millis()*0.001;
float dt = time – pTime;
println(dt);
pTime = time;

float level = song.mix.level();
float fftVal = fft.getBand(300);
vel = map(fftVal, 0, 0.1, 0.05, 0.5);

for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
noiseArray[i].x += vel * dt;
noiseArray[i].y += vel *dt;
float xScale = map(noise(noiseArray[i].x), 0, 1, -1, 1);
float yScale = map(noise(noiseArray[i].y), 0, 1, -1, 1);

posArray[i].x = xScale * 300;
posArray[i].y = yScale * 300;
}
}

PART 2

Communication protocols:

1. Goal of the project : By clicking four buttons in a certain sequence, the lock will be locked or unlocked indicating by two leds. If it is unlocked, the blue led will light up; if it is locked, the red led will light up.
2.  Core components : 4 buttons, 4 x 10K ohms resistors, red and blue leds, 2 x 220 ohms resistors, breadboard, arduino board, jumper wires
3. How it works : If you press buttons from 1 to 4, the blue led will light up and fade out in a while. Otherwise the red led will light up.
4. Problems encountered : the button is unstable sometimes.

IMG_0696

Cubled – LED Interactive installation using Arduino Uno

I found this interactive installation done by Arduino very interesting. It consists of 27 luminous spheres and will light up differently. I don’t completely understand the technology used in this project yet. But seeing the final effect, I feel that it can be used in many fields such as installation art and stage settings. Also, I’m imaging that if we change the output into something not only physical but also digital, the outcome will be more fun.