by Natalia Fargasch Norman
in IPON
As I move to the next phase on the IPON project, and before I commit to a circuit to be implanted in the first plush object, I was considering the following:
In my last post I presented the circuit I’ll be implanting in the plush objects; it used a force sensor (FSR) to be placed on the plush animal’s nose, which when pressed, will trigger the behavior response to that. (By the way I connected the sensor to a digital input, which means that the force applied, an analog value, was translated to either a 0 or a 1; it would have been better to use an analog pin and calibrate it so that it wouldn’t require so strong a force. The cuttoff used on the digital pin requires too much force to be used.)
I’m thinking instead of a FSR to use a push-button, as it will represend a savings of over $5 per plush object (remember, this project’s intended goal is to serve as electronics teaching to high-school at-risk students. So price is an important design factor). [click to continue…]
by Natalia Fargasch Norman
in IPON
On my last post I introduced the IPON project, and today I’m sharing the implementation of Phase 0 of this project. (You may want to refer to the previous post if you haven’t yet read it, as this post will probably make much more sense if you know what the IPON project is about).
In Phase 0 I have the complete circuit and sketch that make up Phase 1, except the circuit is not yet implanted in the plush object. It’s just a rough prototype to make sure things work before I go about murdering cutting up a dear plush companion.
[click to continue…]
by Natalia Fargasch Norman
in IPON
The Identified Plush Object Network is one of a few bigger projects that I want to work on this year. The idea is to create a network of small plush animals that interact with users, each other, and the Internet. I called it “Identified” because as a separate project I’m working with an RFID reader/writer module I want to create a simpler interface for, and once that piece is working each object in the network will be tagged as well.
The motivation for the project is non-profit work I want to do in the future with at-risk teenagers here in Orange County, CA. I want to create something that can be built in phases that get increasingly complex as the students learn, but that starts simple enough to enable hands-on participation from day one. Software improvements will be made in each iteration. [click to continue…]
I have recently received the following question from a reader:
I’m looking for a circuit board design that will need to turn on an array of LEDs when motion is detected during the day time, and also stay on continuously during the night time; using the Arduino would be nice. The project that I am working on is just a picture frame with my artwork in it. The art is actually an embossed piece. The light that I am placing within the frame will shine across the embossed art, and reflect off the raised areas of paper and make the picture appear more three-dimensional. So, the picture acts as a night light when it’s dark, and then turns on for a moment during the day time when some approaches the picture.
I suspected there had to be a simple circuit to accomplish this without having to program a microcontroller to take care of triggering the light. I could see that was overkill; after all, it is just a way to switch lights on/off. Still, I had no idea how to do it, if not from a software point of view.
[click to continue…]
+Natalia F Norman