Inspiration
For this creative switch example, I was inspired by these small Buddha statues I bought long ago. I like that there is a specific way for these Buddhas to be lined up, in relation to the Japanese sanbiki no saru. So I have decided to make a creative switch that relates to this initial idea.
Concept
In order to be true to my inspiration, I decided that I wanted the LED to light up when the statues are lined up or at least in close contact with each other, depending on the understanding of the user. This would signify the saying or the concept itself. Therefore, in order to make this concept come true, I had to find an inductive material that I can attach to them, as the statues themselves are from ceramics.
Implementation
I decided to start by figuring out what kind of circuitry I had to build that would light up the LED when the statues are put together. I put tapes under the statues and then connected them to large coins. On the bottom of the coin, for I didn’t see and I don’t know statue, I connected positive and ground wires respectively, while the I didn’t hear statue was only taped above the coin and there was no wire passing true. When it comes to making the circuit work, which is powered by pin 13 of the Arduino automatically when plugged in without any code running, statues have to be put together so that their base coins touch each other, preferably in the proper line-up but would work in any circumstance. The concept of these statues is also a saying in my country which I enjoy using quite a lot. Hence, as a source of wisdom, I like seeing them together, especially in the context of Buddha, and I feel like it gives a similar commentary to enlightenment when they are lined up.
Challenge
It was quite hard to figure out the conductivity and make sure that wires were secured properly to the coins as well as the statues to the coins. Hence, I had to spend time playing around with the wires to make sure that switch would work at all times. It was also challenging to find inspiration as well, but I quite enjoyed settling on the philosophical enlightenment, Buddha, and 3 wise monkeys analogy.
Reflection
This project was quite fun to implement, and I really enjoyed bringing something from my daily life to the project. It was a great start for the future. I’m looking forward to the future motions of playing around with Arduino and projects.