Evander Batson
xinhe feng
FluffyLeecy
frankiezek
gaboratparsons
giang063
gracegotlost
lauriewaxman
Siwen Li
Tim Xiaofeng Lin
Yury Gitman
mar28th
Max(TONG WEN)
Soohyun
sabotai
Susan Lin
Liza + Caitlin : Hula Hoop iteration
Role: “Clock” device keeps track of position, acts as holder for LED hula hoop. When a certain amount of time has ticked away, the clock hand position no longer allows the hula hoop to be held up, and it falls glowing to the ground.
CLOCK HAND PROTOTYPE: Servomotor outputting information about angle of rotation to LED strip receiver in hula hoop
HULA HOOP PROTOTYPE
LED STRIP TESTING
liza, and 
Making Toys 
Caitlin Morris 7:17 pm on April 10, 2012 Permalink |
Did any surprises come from this round of prototyping?
One main (pleasant) surprise was learning that the material of the rubber hoop itself has a significant impact on the way light is dispersed out of the hoop. We found a clear rubber with a braided pattern, which diffracts the light into an interesting crystallized pattern.
One less pleasant surprise was the discovery that because the RGB LED strips require 12V to run, we will have to power it with a different source besides the Arduino which acts as the controller. This will prove to be challenging because we are working with a very small space inside the hula hoop tube.
What was the hardest thing to make from this round of prototypes?
The hardest thing was getting the look and feel of the tube itself right. Because we’re using different materials than the standard hula hoop tube in order to allow the light to shine through, it’s a challenge coming up with a combination of materials which still give the rigidity and ease of use of a traditional hoop. We’re going to test with having a harder clear plastic tube inside the larger braided tube, forming a channel in-between for the LED strip.
What was the easiest thing from this round of prototypes for you?
The easiest thing was getting the clock mechanism or servomotor running, because servomotors by default are aware of the angle that they’re positioned at. This makes it fairly simple to get the information about clock hand angle and pass it to the lighting.
liza 7:19 pm on April 10, 2012 Permalink |
One of the big surprises that we had from this round of prototypes emerged from our materials. Word to the wise, always check the datasheet! We realized that the RGB LED strip requires 12 volts and therefore a separate power source from the Arduino. (We did get it to run off of a 9V, so this could be another solution for now.)
The other big surprise came from the tubing we are using. Generally, DIY hula hoops use 1″ irrigation poly tubing, which is usually black and opaque. Since the goal is to find tubing that diffuses the light, we went with another type of tubing (reinforced vinyl tubing 1″ at 125 PSI) that has cross-hatched reinforcements on the inside and diffuses the light beautifully. However, upon testing, we found that it is not rigid enough. Next step is to reinforce with clear plastic tubing.
Now I Understand What all The Hoopla is About « curvyelviesays 3:48 pm on May 18, 2012 Permalink |
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