Gavia + Noble // Silly String Experiments

The next step of making our theft detection device a reality involved brainstorming what would be triggered upon the movement of ones personal belongings, in addition to the standard flashing lights and blaring alarm. Many ideas were thrown around – a bag of marbles bursting and flying everywhere (deemed too cumbersome), a smoke bomb detonating (too dangerous), text message being sent to your phone (too difficult and expensive considering the time-frame and student budget). Eventually, we decided to go with an aerosol can that sprays silly string, as it's compact and inexpensive while still delivering the spectacle that we wanted. Additionally, the user could potentially replace the silly string with mace, spray paint, or anything else in an aerosol can if they were looking for a more extreme theft deterrent.
We plan on attaching the wire that depresses the spray nozzle to a servo motor. When triggered by the motion sensor, it will rotate in alternating ten second and three second intervals for about 30 seconds, pulling the connecting wire and producing bursts of silly string. The photos below show the first tinkerings with the can and the wire. We used paper clips kept in place by strips of duct tape folded over to create a non-sticky channel through which they could easily pass, and we carved a divot in the top of the nozzle to keep the paper clip in place. Pulling the bottom of the wire with a small amount of force sprayed the string!

Unfortunately, the process of putting it together involved Gavia spraying a good amount of silly string by mistake (sometimes at Noble and other unsuspecting classmate – sorry guys), and the can is now empty. Our next steps will involve finding a more hi-fidelity way to attach the wire to the nozzle and run it along to the bottom of the can actually attach the wire to the servo motor.