7: Prototyping Update 1 – Chaeji Kim & Allison Chan

 Give us an update on your prototyping. Have you ordered sensors? Have you tested code? Maybe you're looking for some particular part and having trouble? Or trying to solve sensing problem?


The sensors we chose to order are...

• Accelerometer

• Pressure Sensor

• Microphone 

Though our pressure sensor was very sensitive, and easy to pick up variations from a light touch. We struggled with figuring out how to make the sensor work from all angles, and from inside a teddy bear. In order to tackle this issue, we made a small self-contained plastic bag that would be sealed from all sides. Our theory was that by blowing it up, pressing on any side would cause the air pressure to effect the actual sensor.


...to manipulate how the neopixels would light up inside our lamp. 

Unfortunately we ran into a lot of trouble in trying to create our plastic pressure cushion. There seems to be a very delicate and at times random threshold for when I've held the iron for too long and it goes from under-sealed to over-melted. The second photo shows my latest attempt where I'm still under-sealed (air is still seeping out somehow when I blow into it, but the plastic seems to be just about ready to give way and over-melt) and have haphazardly tried to melt tape onto the edges....This made it impossible to capture any air into the cushion without risk of it popping or leaking. 

Thus, alternatively we chose to create a foam cushion with a tiny slit in the center for the sensor. Thankfully the sensor is sensitive enough that it doesn't require any extra hard buffer inside the cushion (like a plastic disc). 

Programming wise we needed to find a way to create three distinct outputs (manipulations to the neopixels) tied to the three inputs which could operate simultaneously and account for any volatility in the human inputs. We are having some difficulty in trying to get the different outputs to work in conversation with each other smoothly. We are also having difficulty working with colors to get different colors to diffuse evenly with increased pressure. Because the RBG Pixels work in a way where max values in all three color streams produce a white light, it makes it difficult to create bright non-white colors with really high pressure values. More progress to come!