Category: hardware

Notes from Lukas’s masters thesis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timoshenko_beam_theory used by Lukas as opposed to Euler Bernoulli beam theory, the difference appears to be the deformation of the beam ends which is necessary due to the softness of the silicone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinematics the branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of objects without reference to the forces which cause the motion. Kinematics as a… Continue reading Notes from Lukas’s masters thesis

Set-up MacMini 1.4Ghz Intel Core i5 4GB (OS X El Capitan 10.11.2)

$ sudo easy_install pip $ sudo pip install -U setuptools already installed on El Cap $ sudo pip install pyserial install MariaDB as that is what is installed on pew == make sure Xcode is uptodate or install it   (this triggered an OS install, do it) $ xcode-select –install install homebrew $ ruby -e… Continue reading Set-up MacMini 1.4Ghz Intel Core i5 4GB (OS X El Capitan 10.11.2)

Environment

Source: Environment Lapka started with the ambitious idea to build the most beautiful science ever. We first set out to explore body network and personal environment, utilizing numerous, sensitive environmental factors such as radiation and carbon monoxide. We built tools for self-care and mind harmony, but never saw them as medicinal devices. Russian company that… Continue reading Environment

Living Mushtari – 3d-printed and generatively grown microbial factory

Developed at the MIT Media Lab’s Mediated Matter group, Living Mushtari is a 3D printed wearable with 58 meters of internal fluid channels designed to function as a wearable microbial factory that uses synthetic microorganisms to convert sunlight into useful products for the wearer. Source: Living Mushtari – 3d-printed and generatively grown microbial factory /… Continue reading Living Mushtari – 3d-printed and generatively grown microbial factory

Installing software on the RPi 2 for testing the receivers:

Install node and node-red
$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup | sudo bash –

$ sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python-dev python-rpi.gpio nodejs

$ sudo npm install -g –unsafe-perm node-red

src [http://nodered.org/docs/hardware/raspberrypi.html]

Mainly using node-red in the first instance to test the serial port stuff as it’s so quick and easy. Will end up using python for the final version.

Working out power for all 7 readers:
Tested in the lab with a variable power supply.
each reader uses about 300mAh at 9v (they are usually powered by a 9v alkaline battery)
For 7 I need a 3A 9V plug-in power supply, and can then wire they all together into one source.
Ordered one plus a load of speaker cable to extend the power of each reader.

rotating plinth for objects

10cm mains/battery turntable. Could use these as an added component to the system – data driven turning linked to a behaviour

Published
Categorised as hardware

User-interactive electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization : Nature Materials : Nature Publishing Group

Electronic skin (e-skin) presents a network of mechanically flexible sensors that can conformally wrap irregular surfaces and spatially map and quantify various stimuli1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Previous works on e-skin have focused on the optimization of pressure sensors interfaced with an electronic readout, whereas user interfaces based on a human-readable output were not explored. Here, we report the first user-interactive e-skin that not only spatially maps the applied pressure but also provides an instantaneous visual response through a built-in active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display with red, green and blue pixels. In this system, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are turned on locally where the surface is touched, and the intensity of the emitted light quantifies the magnitude of the applied pressure. This work represents a system-on-plastic4, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 demonstration where three distinct electronic components—thin-film transistor, pressure sensor and OLED arrays—are monolithically integrated over large areas on a single plastic substrate. The reported e-skin may find a wide range of applications in interactive input/control devices, smart wallpapers, robotics and medical/health monitoring devices.

via User-interactive electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization : Nature Materials : Nature Publishing Group.

Tangible Media Group

Tangible Media Group.

RADICAL ATOMS

To address this challenge, we presented our new vision, “Radical Atoms”, in 2012. Radical Atoms takes a leap beyond Tangible Bits by assuming a hypothetical generation of materials that can change form and appearance dynamically, becoming as reconfigurable as pixels on a screen.
Radical Atoms is a computationally transformable and reconfigurable material that is bidirectionally coupled with an underlying digital model (bits) so that dynamic changes of physical form can be reflected in digital states in real time, and vice versa.

Radical Atoms is the future material that can transform their shape, conform to constraints, and inform the users of their affordances. Radical Atoms is a vision for the future of human-material interaction, in which all digital information has a physical manifestation so that we can interact directly with it. We no longer think of designing the interface, but rather of the interface itself as material. We may call it “Material User Interface (MUI).”

Dielectric / Electroactive Polymers

▶ Electroactive Polymers Part 1: Shower Hose Stretching Mechanism Video Tutorial – YouTube. Pt 2 – stretching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNKeqOCOKE&feature=share&list=UUMq2XZHOUiR8ZBDtTeRAJQw ShapeShift: http://youtu.be/4XGVMXCxBNA – really great how to of architectural shapes + linking them Butterfly-like wings from Uni of Sydney: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBAzjJwFkS0

Multiplexing infos

bildr » Muxing Around With The CD74HC4067 + Arduino. http://www.instructables.com/id/Multiplexing-with-Arduino-and-the-74HC595/ http://playground.arduino.cc/learning/4051