Final Project Proposal

Concept: A hovercraft works by concentrating a pocket of air underneath it and trapping it with a “skirt” of some kind so that air pressure builds up underneath the hovercraft, which allows it to float over a ground surface. In this project I am proposing to create a miniature hovercraft using pc fans and lightweight casing material. Hopefully (if I am able to get the hovercraft to lift off…), I can then steer the hovercraft depending on outside influences.

Parts List:

1. 4 (or 8 – additional fans for steering) pc cooling fans
2. lightweight casing material
3. 24 volt power supply (.5 amps?)
4. Garbage bags (for the skirt)

Technical Concept: There are a few projects online which have done similar things, with varying results, it seems about 50/50 when people either get it to work or it doesn’t lift off the ground at all. Additionally, pc cooling fans usually run at 12V, boosting the voltage up to 24V should increase RPMs and therefore increase the rate of air movement (thus resulting in -hopefully- enough air pressure to create lift). If lift is achieved, then proximity sensors (ultrasonic, photovoltaic, infrared) could be used to steer hovecrafts around obstacles and preserve hovercraft stability and orientation on slanted surfaces by altering fan power. The arduino compiler should be able to fulfill all programming needs that I have for this project.

Documentation / References:

• Asteroid Hovercraft
• Paper Plate Hovercraft
• How to Make a Hovercraft

State Diagram

Final Project Proposal (Revised)

Since my original post wasn’t very detailed at all, I drew a sketch of what I envisioned the final product to look like, along with a schematic.

I finalized on having something like a flowerpot, where a fabricated plant extends out of the pot via a servo motor if a photosensor senses the surrounding light as “high.” The values for high and low light would be determined through calibration. If the light value is sensed as “low” after “high”, the servo motor would move the plant down, and the plant would hide. The plant would remain in that state until sensing the light as “high” again.

digital book reader

pdf:

Digital book proposal

Final proposal

My project will be a panel of buttons, knobs, and switches, for a booth for CMU’s Spring Carnival.
The panel is supposed to be “science-y,” like a prop from 2001 or Star Trek, and it should invite exploratory interactions.  The board will react deterministically, but its responses might not always be directly obvious to the viewer.

The proposal is here: http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~lea/mti-proposal-2.pdf

Final Project Proposal

This is an updated and adapted version of the project that I presented at the midterm.  I hope to continue with my orignal intentions of creating a

’smart wall’ that is able to change and adapt to its context and provide a better living situation for the occupants.

final-project-proposal.pdf

Pouring Light Table

So my idea for the final project is to use a cup and a table to pour light. The cup would be the source of the light and you would tilt the cup to pour the light onto the table. the table would then light up proportial to the amout of light poured from the cup. the table would stay lit up as long as the table was leve. and to drain the table, you would only need to tilt the table and the light would fall off the table. If i got really ambitious, i could use sensors to allow you to manipulate the light once it was on the table. But as of right now, i am not quite sure how i would do that. But here is a video of something similar, but it is from cup to cup.

Physically Building Virtual Worlds – Proposal

The Concept:A child is given a set of physical scaled Models( Ex: Buildings, Sky Scrapers, Bridges, Monsters, Boats, People, etc)The child can then create their own virtual world by arranging a set of their models within a given square on a table, and their virtual world model is automatically rendered in Google SketchUp for them to explore in more detail.Parts List:

• Table with Glass Square
• Camera
• Scaled Models (either purchased or made from craft material)-
• Processing Computer
• Fiducial Stickers

Technical Specifics: The only real hardware component to this project will be a camera and glass table. The rest is mainly software based. A camera will be mounted under the table, facing upwards. Each object will have its own fiducial ( see examples below) sticker on its base, so using the camera… its absolute position and orientation can be registered using an Open-Source Fiducial Recognition Framework. The application will then pass these position and orientation values to a Google SketchUp file preloaded with the coresponding digital models for each physical model. SketchUp will then render the world based on the position and orientation values. There will also be a space in the upper corner of the table, for a child to pick materials. For instance they can put a Grass Square in the upper corner, for the world to be built on grass, or water, etc. The system will completey expandable, so that as long as someone wants to build their own physical model, and corresponding digital model, any environment can be rendered.Fiducial Example: I am also considering creating this same model with 3 cameras instead of 1. This would allow the software to recognize not just the absolute position on the x axis, but on the Y and Z as well, so a child could place buildings on top of one another. Below is a basic state diagram:Specific Software List:ProcessingreacTIVisionFrameworkRuby SketchUp APIFurther Down The Road: Rather then just build a snap shot of a Virtual World at one point, children could use this to script and direct their own movies. They could press a record button, and it would record the moving of their boat from point A to B, and then the person getting out of the boat and walking into the building. Add the functionality of recording sound, and they can create some great movies very simply.

Final Project Proposal

My project is the niTe liTe, a smart night table that lights up when the user wants it to. Final Project Proposal

vehicle-mounted light-aiming turret

For the final project, I propose a light-chasing application similar to my midterm project (lightchaser).  This time, it will be an auto turret that aims at light.  A 360deg servo will be the base platform onto which the firing mechanism will be mounted.  There will be 4 light sensors affixed at 90degs facing outward.
turret2.pdf

My primary objective is to be able to shoot down various stationary targets from a fixed position (as drawn).  Once that is working accurately and fast enough, my secondary objective is to be able to shoot down moving targets.  Ultimately I will mount the turret on an RC car and shoot down target cars (also RC).If things go magically well, I want to make two of these turret cars which could play Tag by alternating being the light source.  It would alternate when the target car sensed that it had been hit, which I’m not sure how to do, nor do I know how to send that “hit” signal to the chaser car.  So for this I think I would need some type of wireless signal.  I don’t think this would be possible by the end of the semester, so I also had the idea of mounting the turret onto the lightchaser (will be changed to IR lightchaser), and that may be better not only for feasibility, but for entertainment purposes, since it is intended to be a toy.

From working on the lightchaser I know that photoresistor inputs are tricky (especially in calibration when comparing multiple sensor inputs) so I may use pairs of sensors.  Also, a small solenoid is an inadequate firing mechanism, so I will opt for a larger one or a different assembly altogether.

Final Project Proposal

Final Project Proposal

I aim to create a robot which represents a stationary living organism i.e. plant, flower, tree etc. The goal is to embed as many life-like, even human characteristics into the organism. As of now I have determined inputs such as light, presence of user, sound (maybe music), and temperature.  These inputs will work together to ultimately drive various responses observed by the user. Some of the outputs I have been thinking of are, actuation, based on presence of user, amount of sunlight received (like a plant, possibly a light following plant like a sunflower), possibly even response to music/loud noise etc. Another output I want to incorporate is visualization of happy/sad emotions through lights and posture. For example, a droopy, blue plant can signify sadness whereas a erect orange plant signifies happiness. Sadness and happiness can be determined through 4 metrics, amount of sunlight received, amount of interaction (not just presence, but change of presence) & loudness of noise (louder leads to negative emotion). The inspiration came from two interactive toys, the Tamaguchi and Digimon. I want to see this artifact being treated just as one would treat a real plant, give it sunlight, water (maybe not this iteration) & even sound.

Parts List

-          Photo sensors

-          Thermistors

-          IR or Proximity sensors (need to purchase)

-          Microphone (need to purchase)

-          Various Resistors

-          Transistors

-          Servo Motors (need to purchase) w/ Links

-          Arduino Microcontroller

-          External Power Supply

-          Solar Panels (need to purchase)

-          Fasteners (need to purchase)

-          Wire

-          Materials for building the base, stem, etc.

-          String/Wire for actuation

-          Diodes

State Diagram

 

 

Pseudo code

Initialize Metrics

Calibrate w/ Environment (Light, Noise, Temp)

Initialize Interaction variable

Begin Operating Loop

                Read Inputs, Light, Temp, Sound, Rate Interaction

                Evaluate Emotion Rating (if emotion rating is too low, organism dies and loop exits)

                Output Emotion Module (Drive Light & Rigidity)

                Determine which branch to drive

                Drive Either Follow User, Follow Light or Idle (Drive Servos)

                Return Loop

Flow Chart 

 

  

Electric Schematic 

Yet to be decided

 Related Products/Projects 

Here are a few links about Robotany and other products which aim to achieve similar goals:

http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/ 

http://danielbauen.com/robotany/

http://amorphicrobotworks.org/works/grt/fabrication.htm