week 6

arduino basics and creating little instruments

lighting up a bulb

i started off with a little led bulb experiment to get myself warmed up to arduino. with my little to non-existent secondary school (7 years ago) physics knowledge, the wiring and all made sufficient sense to me.

and then i tried moving on to something that might be more applicable to my project - actuators. i did a little bit of research on it, and to my relief actuators just meant outputs that could help with motion (am i right…). if i were to make something related to sound-production, i decided to start on experiments on motors and such. thankfully, my kit came with dc motors.

d/c motor

there's this video as well: link. i wanted to continue on with the d/c motor, but unfortunately, i don’t have a battery pack yet. will get one soon. the wiring with this was also so confusing. i did not understand what was going on. while following the led tutorial, i was able to picture a basic electrical diagram in my head. but with a newly introduced ground wire and the ground wire connecting from end to end of the breadboard, i was lost!!! this even had me researching up again on ground wires, because in my very basic knowledge, i had the impression that these wires were connected to the ground. (but there is no ground to my arduino board……)

i didn’t actually try out the tutorial myself due to the absence of a battery pack. i’ve decided to move on to experimenting with sounds, so that i know what other equipment i require for my arduino sound system.

little instruments

i just grabbed whatever was around the house to make these.

they sound too home-made for me. i really liked the sounds from koka's beat machine because they were crisp and clean. i don't think there's an issue with the calming ocean sound, but i think the little beats against the tape skin needs to be cleaned up a lot.

i think i will need new materials from art friend- some springs, wood panels, metal parts.

ehhhh i don't really have any other comments. except maybe my expectations of the sounds were too high hahahhaha. or perhaps i should be using less conventional materials to be creating these sound contraptions.

analytical

things that worked well: the light bulb lit up
things that did not work well: the movements that i actually wanted to do

i did do a little more research into the parts i had to get and all - the actuators and solenoids. i wish i knew that some of those would require more power for it to work. thanks to the light bulb experiment, i did understand a little better what an arduino board did, and the limitations of it (not having enough power…) i did not do enough research it seemed. i’m a rash, impulsive person, and once again life has reminded me to watch youtube tutorials before actually trying things out myself. the light bulb experiment did help me relate back to my physics lessons back in secondary school, drawing current diagrams and all.

as my final outcome would be an experience, there should be some visuals as well. i’m having trouble relating these lights back to visuals. i feel like there can be a relation between these two, or i might have to bring p5js into the conversation as well, in order to create an experience of burnout with visuals and sound. if arduino failed, p5js was another alternative to this. it would be easier to produce an experience with p5js i think, but the downsides to it would that it would be a digital experience that might not feel as sincere and authentic as a physical experience machine would give. kokas beat machine was an art form, and if i were to produce my experience purely digitally, my outcome would end up feeling like a launchpad. i want to avoid that.

arduino requires an interaction point between the user and the actuator. i didn’t realise that. this means that either my little machine would be lamely powered on or off, or i could use it to measure different levels of mental exhaustion, such that the sensory experiences would vary. i don’t know if this is possible even.

we also had a mini feedback session on each of our works by our peers. i put out my instrumental experiments for feedback. compared to everyone else who were doing their experiments digitally, i was the only one with these homemade looking experiments. i wish it looked more polished, but i was only testing out the materials and sounds. i think i can do away with the “shakers”, they don’t seem to be very relaxing sounds. i will shortlist the sponge on cardboard instrument, however. it does provide my users with a somewhat relaxing replication of ocean noises.

reflective

there are finally some practical developments, cheers to this. because of this however, my research outline updates have been slower. i tend to compartmentalise my workload, sadly, into physical form and writing.

what i’ve failed to do this week is relate my practical work to my research. i’m starting to double-take myself. i have not included any readings on sensory experiences that would positively impact burnout, yet this is what i’m planning to do. my mind is stuck on this issue, but i’m also being pushed to go ahead and try out first experiments and all, and so i honestly feel a little bit stuck. i don’t know if this is believable or not, but i do have perfectionist tendencies, which is why i find it quite difficult to proceed in experimental projects that i do not feel prepared enough for. trying to go on ahead with my first few experiments and ignoring my perfectionist side was a success, but i believe i failed with this very lame experiment lol. maybe if i did succeed in getting the d/c motor to turn on, i would have been more impressed. yes, there are some alternatives online that help you see if your circuit works, but i think it’s a different experience altogether.

i definitely need to brush up on my literature. going ahead with this experiment made me feel a disconnect between what my final outcome should achieve and what i currently have in my research. i also have to consider participant behaviour. how users would expect to interact with this and what emotions the experience would leave them with.

the visuals of this wire and board is ugly. do i want my users to pick this up, or will this be a whole grand big skeletal structural experience machine? i quite like the thought of the second idea, but i don’t know if the quality will stand up to it.

i don’t really like the visuals of my instruments either.