i’m well into the flow of the residency now. i have several lines of enquiry set up to investigate and several makes waiting to be made.
up first was the proof of concept for the maker bar additional interpretation sign. the makers feel we can improve the visitor experience by providing more opportunitities to form a door into what we do on the bar for first time visitors. with this make i ran through the stages really quite quickly for me. i think this was a result of a recent personal occurrence.
dipping into the recently acquired laser cutting knowledge, i set myself to create.
sourcing material from the off cut bin of a suitable size i quickly cut the words and drilled holes to join the two boards together.
on the laser cutter i used some guides to ensure the second board lined up as the first so i could quickly repeat the cutting process.
in the workshop i used a spindle sander for the first time to take out some uneven ness of edge and drill holes for nylon string to create the a board.
i also used some wax i had been introduced to for the big bang interactive box. i made a bad call doing this as the wood darkened and the words became difficult to read.
there’s also a spelling mistake.
the plus side of this make came when as a group we were able to look at the object and discuss how to proceed with it. we have also been brought up to speed with the museum’s set font for interpretation words.
i’ll be remaking the maker bar additional interpretation board after an induction to the vinyl cutter next week.
with the laser cutting complete i moved onto proving the load cell.
the arduino online community is incredibly supportive with many shared tutorials and code examples. experience has taught me to try to initially use teh simpler version of code if there is a choice. when testing the load cell i forgot this.
it took additional research to find a simpler code. i have now been able to read the value from the load cell and transmit this value over bluetooth to isadora.
the load cell proving is part of the pre work for the re-imagined snee snaw. additional works include the led research and considering the calculations needed.
with the led i’m considering the method of controlling them using osc commands from isadora and wether they will be bright enough for being outside.
the calculations relate to how i can use the values from two load cells to control the led strip, inspired by the physical form of a see saw.
this week we’ve also been introduced to the usb controlled sewing machine. it’s quite easy to use. i think there are subtleties to the process as there always are to make a process go really smoothly. for the demonstration we all had our names embroidered.
at a personal level this week has been difficult and i’ve leant on my making to help support myself through this difficult time.
there are times during which code that i’m working on doesn;t behave as i’d want it to. i have learnt to accept the frustrations of this. there usually is a reason why the behaviour is not as expected and the key to progressing is finding that.
personally i’ve learnt to keep a level head, stay calm and take a break when it doesn’t work.
i had this yesterday with progressing the ardunio control of the led strip. the behaviour was erratic and not as expected. after a break i played with the set up again (at home) to see if i could solve it.
through a process of elimination i discovered the problem to be the bluetooth module still powered and connected to the arduino uno. powering down the module returned the osc control to the led strip. it was with some satisfaction that i started to progress with how i’ll use osc values to control direction and speed of the lit led position.
