Making Toys

Updates from December, 2008 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Yury Gitman 5:14 pm on December 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Compy: The monitor for your monitor! 

  Compy is the monitor for your monitor!

  

  Do you spend too much time sitting in front of your computer? Do you
  waste time checking your email over and over instead of going out and
  having a life? Compy is for you!

  Compy clips to your laptop screen, and he sits patiently. He will use his infrared sensor to detect when you are in front of your computer, and if you’re there for 30 minutes, he will alert you! Don’t worry, if you walk away from your laptop, Compy knows and will restart his timer when you come back. He’s always happy to keep an eye on you!

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2547096&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Compy! from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

  By Joana Kelly (joanawithonen[at]gmail[dot]com)
   

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  Yury Gitman 5:12 pm on December 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Compy: A peek inside 

  Finally, Compy is up and working! Here are some photos of his guts, and his code is below!

  Compy’s front
  
  I added googly eyes and a pipe cleaner bow-tie to give him a little craft charm.

  Compy’s Back
  
  His battery pack is attached on the back.

  Compy with his Battery Pack removed
  
  The battery pack is attached with velcro. The chip clip which holds Compy onto a laptop is hot glued.

  Compy’s Guts
  
  I used an Arduino Mini, and had to put that in a little acrylic box from the Container Store separate from another acrylic box containing the speaker and the IR sensor.
  Code is below!

  (More …)
   
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  Yury Gitman 5:24 pm on December 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Birdie/Qwail work in progress… 

  I’ve scrapped the Winbond, which is both good and bad. The Winbond would have been great for making bird sounds, but the Arduino Mini is so much more compact and easy to work with. It makes sound too, but the computery noises it makes are not very bird-like. In fact, they’re just downright annoying.

  I’m using the Play Melody code from an Arduino tutorial to get started. I had to add a couple of extra octaves (by halving the frequency of each tone for each octave), and now I’m working on getting the melody to play at the appropriate time.

  Right now my code will play a little ditty after 15 seconds if someone is not in front of the IR sensor. I need more parameters, but it’s not bad for a proof of concept. Consider is an implementation prototype.

  My code is after the jump, by the way

  Some photos:
  
  The Whole Mess

  

  Here is my arudino mini, hooked up to the arduino as a usb connector. Also featured within the mess of wires is an IR sensor, a speaker (bigger than the one I’ll end up using, actually), and some fine LEDS to help me figure out what’s going on when). The Red LED comes on when the IR is on and reading something is close, and Yellow LED comes on when the IR is reading that nothing is in front of it anymore.

  
  A Close Up

  

  This is just a close up shot of the Arduino Mini, connected to things. I’ll be taking it off of the bread board as soon as I’m happy with my code. Until then, it stays, which unfortunately is holding me back from making Birdie look and feel prototypes.

  A video is coming soon!!

  (More …)
   
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  Yury Gitman 12:20 pm on December 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Birdie (or perhaps “Qwail?”) BOM 

  You know, like a quail that wails.

  Anyway, here is a lovely diagram of how I’m hookin’ things up.

  

  You don’t actually need the Arduino Mini USB adapter to get things cooking, you can use a regular Arduino, as shown above, if you already have one. Just be sure to remove the Atmel ATmega168 so you can connect the reset pin from the mini to the Arduino (see what I mean below). Without this, data will not transfer.
  Arduino Mini
  Arduino Mini USB Adapter or Arduino
  Superbright LEDS
  8 ohm speaker
  IR Sensor

  Okay, here is a photo of the Arduino without the Atmel chip.

  

  Yes, that chip does come off! Just don’t pry it off too violently, or you’ll bend the pins. Mmkay?
   
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  Yury Gitman 7:12 pm on November 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Birdie Schedule! 

  11/18: Have two working winbond’s to mess with, and bill of materials
  11/25: Have three different Birdie cases ready for testing
  Screw the winbond! Get Arduino Mini to make tones and design cases
  12/02: Test Birdie 1.0, consider case alterations, other sounds, etc.
  Test sound(s), and get code working seamlessly for implementation prototypes. Have look and feel prototypes to show.
  12/09: Test Birdie with look and feel, implementation, and role prototypes. Consider and make any necessary alterations
  12/16: Final Due (have video/documentation of Birdie in action)!
   
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  Yury Gitman 9:33 am on November 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Birdie! (Very) Rough Sketch 

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2217940&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Birdie! from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.
   
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  Yury Gitman 5:18 pm on October 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  IR sensor + 3 LEDS 

  Here’s the fine video of my IR sensor actually working!!

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2093728&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Another IR sensor + 3 LEDS from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

  I had some wacky issues connecting my IR sensor, but found a useful diagram, also including here:

  
  I ended up adapting Matt’s code also. My original code made the lights flicker a lot, but Matt averaged out the IR signal quite effectively. Kudos to you, sir. Matt’s code is also after the jump.

  (More …)

  Surveillance Solutions is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
  • 

    Surveillance Solutions 6:21 am on March 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply

    I’ve being researching about IR Devices and reading your blog, I found your post very helpful . I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading.

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  Yury Gitman 4:48 pm on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Midterm Concepts 

  Pandas

  

  This concept involves two pandas, which both detect presence. One panda, when detecting someone near by, sends a message to the second panda, which sneezes, alerting the second person of the first person’s presence. Naturally this concept makes the most sense when the two pandas are in different places.

  Time Bird

  

  The tenatively named Time Bird monitors the amount of time someone spends in front the computer. The bird will chirp every hour, counting the number of hours that pass, and when someone gets up from the computer the bird will reset.

  Ambient Sound Frame

  

  This photo frame would play ambient sound from the day the photograph was taken, or a recorded message related to the photograph when someone picks up the frame or gets close to it.

  Proximity Alert

  

  I thought about this the other day while setting up a photo studio in my apartment. I came close to falling over the lights and cords several times and could have used a little extra help steering clear of all the obstacles.

  Magic Music Box

  

  The music box would play a short tune, much like a traditional music box (or snow globe), but it would mysteriously sense your presence and begin to play! Like Magic!!
   
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  Yury Gitman 2:06 am on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Chipcorder with buttons 

  Below is a video of my chipcorder working, and some photos of what it would look like if I could get it to work inside it’s cute little box-like shell. I’ve apparently killed my other chip, and I think I’ve done something iffy to the volume pin on my second chip. Ruh roh. Before I screwed everything up, though, things were beautiful:

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2024267&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Chipcorder with Buttons from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

  The Case

  

  Look, there’s my speaker, some holes for the LEDS, and all my buttons! Hooray!

  Lodged

  

  Also, this is a photograph of some stuff from Sparkfun lodged in my mailbox. Great! I know it looks like maybe if I tilt the box then it will slide out of the mailbox quite easily, but I assure you it does not work. I’m going to hack apart the box inside the mailbox tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.
   
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  Yury Gitman 4:59 pm on October 7, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Color Mixer with an IR Sensor 

  What a disaster! I’ve ruined one an IR sensor, and only just about managed to get this second one in action. I haven’t changed my code (yet), so I’m still using the code from the Arduino site. The code can been seen below.

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1906225&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Color Mixer with an IR Sensor and a tri-color LED from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

  Here are some fine photos of the thing in action.
  The Color Mixer

  

  This is what my color mixer looks like from the top. The black rectangle on the right is my IR sensor. I’d like to make a nicer case for this soon.

  The Innards

  

  Here are the innards of my color mixer. It’s kind of a mess.

  The Disaster

  

  Through the simultaneous use of solder, wrapping wire, and hot glue, I finally got this working, for the most part. I do not recommend this approach. Jumper wires are definitely the way to go.

  (More …)
   
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  Yury Gitman 7:04 pm on October 6, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Color Mixer with a Potentiometer and a Tri-Color LED 

  Here’s a short video of a color mixer I made using a tri-color led. I used the color mixer code from the Arduino site. To see the code, click the link at the bottom of the post.

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1898480&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Color Mixer from Joana Kelly on Vimeo

  Color Mixer Insides

  

  This is the inside of the mixer. That’s the arduino on the left! Note I finally got that tri-color led working. Yesss! Turns out the short pin does go to power….good to know.

  (More …)
   
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  Yury Gitman 2:48 pm on September 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  BristleBot 

  Want to build a cool little mobile bot? Sure you do.

  For more information visit evilmadscientist.com.
   
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  Yury Gitman 12:51 pm on September 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  LOLS 

  Speaking of toys, I thought you’d all appreciate this:

  

  via icanhascheezburger.com
   
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  Yury Gitman 4:00 pm on September 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Dissection: The Cute Drum 

  I took apart a Cute Drum that I purchased at Riteaid for $7.99. Its simplicity appealed to me, and you can’t go wrong with a musical instrument. I think I might like to cover it in fur and make it a musical monster one day…

  This is a little video of it working, while it’s put together:

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1712610&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
  Cute Drum from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

  (More …)
   
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  Yury Gitman 7:41 pm on September 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Hello, Wireless Toys 

  Hi, I’m Joana Kelly. I look like this sometimes:

  

  My favorite childhood toys were almost always stuffed animals. I
  have a hard time remembering what was so great about them, but I was mad for
  stuffed animals. I also really liked Legos, Playdoh, and colored
  pencils.

  
  Stuffed animals via MrsBaskets.com

  My background is in photography, and my interests are in making
  delightful fun projects and the internet. I’ve also been really into
  crocodiles lately. Really.

  I’m taking this class in order to explore the fabulous fun world of
  toys  and to delve deeper into physical computing. I’m specifically
  interested in learning about Arduino. Ideally, I’d like to end up with
  a great little project I can add to my portfolio, and have a better
  understanding of electronics in general.