Final Project titled: Mother and Son (Waves), a sound sculpture.
Instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Mother-and-Son-Waves/
I really apologize for not posting a demo video, I will as soon as school opens again after the holidays. Below are images that you will also find on the instructable site.
Below you will find step by step documentation of creating this swatch in which I was inspired by our discussion on binaries in class, and thought that biology (in this case a plant) represents it well.
Here is the link to my instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Crafting-a-Hat-Headlamp/
I started this project with two options, one was a pair of mittens with fade in/fade out led lights for bike riders while the other option was to build a hat with a lamp hovering over it to read at night within a personal space.
Then, I decided I could make a better circuit with the hat to make a touch sensitive sensor to turn the lights on and off as well as intensifying or dimming the lights. The parts I planned to use for my circuit were white neo pixel LED’s, 1 3v battery, an ATTiny, conductive thread, copper fabric, conductive tape, cotton fabric, and black cotton thread.
I could not program my ATTiny so had to make some changes to be able to create a touch switch on and off. To build my switch I cut two squares of conductive fabric and sewed to a piece of fabric which I would sew onto the inside of hat. I used conductive fabric to sew my two pieces.
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Then, I build a little pocket to hold my 3v battery in which I also put two pieces of copper tape on each side. Right after, I knotted two strings of conductive fabric inside on both the power and ground sides to lead my circuit. I sewed in the battery pocket with black thread to blend in with the hat.
I sewed in the positive side of the battery around the hat through the back and the negative side on the front side. Then, placed 4 LED’s instead of the neopixels because I purchased nano neopixels which were too small to solder on the hat. I soldered the conductive thread (which was really difficult to not burn, so kept the heat to the minimum) on each ground and positive ends.
Below is the video showing the functionality of the hat. The next iteration will have an programmed attiny.
The prototypes I have prepared are two different ones to represent lamps. One is a mitten or glove for bike riders that will help them see things immediately close to the handlebars in darkness.
The second drawing on the right is a tool for people who enjoy reading in small dark corners.
I identify myself as a Interactive Designer, Maker & Creative Technologist who aims to create solutions for society both in Peru and the US using my own personal identity, and cultural and professional backgrounds. All are sources for inspiration for my DT projects and the NYC creative and technology communities.
My favorite tool is always my notebook, pen/pencil and a sketchbook too because its always good to write down ideas in many different ways (mind maps, drawing, reading, etc) to get organized and perhaps see things that have been ignored. Thais is how I always start. Sometimes I replace the previously mentioned tools with a whiteboard and a few markers.
Finger knitting was one of the hardest things I have tried to learn this year. At first it was frustrating because the different tutorial videos made it look easy. I got to a point where I decided to shut down my computer and turn the music on. I found that it was very methodic and fun. My advice for whoever wants to start finger knitting would be trying with with different materials and thicknesses. Some good examples I saw used old t-shirts cut into long strips, very thick yarn, elastic fabric.
The following is the tutorial I watched to learn how to finger knit.
http://pinetothepacific.blogspot.com/2011/12/make-your-own-finger-knit-scarf.html
My first iteration of this project was inspired by the LED throwies shown in class, but in this case I wanted to make discs made with foam and cotton fabric and let it be a toy where two or more people could play with. Then, I could not make the disc fly well enough without the battery, LED light and wired inside so I decided to make little pillow-shaped object with wires hanging on the outside for easily changing batteries and/or LEDs. Inside the pillows I made a sandwich circuit with two pieces of foam holding a piece of cotton knitted onto copper fabric and in the middle a piece of foam with a hole in the middle that would break the circuit unless the pillow was pressed to create a contact between the two pieces of copper fabric.
In class assignment
Homework 2
Illustration – Itsy Bitsy Spider from Alonso Castro on Vimeo.
I first wanted to try the homework illustrating itsy bitsy spider using graphite powder, but realized that the amount of powder used for it to be able to be conductive would have to be a full bag of it. Then, noticed it was very resistive used in small amounts.
I decided to then draw the song and connect a battery (the sun) to an LED light (on the tip of the umbrella) using copper tape.
