Week 8: Inness & Neil

Everything with the code and electrical components is coming together this week. We have created two different codes, each comprising of half of the functionality of our design, and plan on combining them tomorrow. One controls the channel we receive based on a reading from a compass sensor- 120 degrees per each channel. The other initiates battery power to the receiver based on input from a tilt sensor. All of our electrical components have been compiles and are working. We have 2 battery packs, the Arduino board, a large breadboard, the computer chip from the receiver, a speaker and numerous wires and transistors. The configuration is currently pretty large and jumbled, but we've purchased a protoboard and a soldering iron and intend to consolidate considerably, which will both save space and provide clarity in the design.

In the realm of industrial design we have decided to create an enclosure to attach to the bottom of a premade glass pitcher. Neil purchased a carafe from Ikea, which is 8" tall (shorter than an average pitcher) and has a 5 1/2 " diameter - which is ideal for housing our components. Adding height to the pitcher won't make it appear strangely tall, and there is a lot of horizontal space inside so that adding the housing shouldn't create balance problems. We're planning on creating a cylindrical container our f wood that cn screw onto the bottom of the pitcher to allow the changing of dead batteries. We will also have to figure out how to create small holes in the base to allow sound to be audible.