Category: Spring 2024 – Aya (Section 002)

The Switch itself

Before going into the background, let’s look at the switch itself:

Concept

A switch to be controlled by a body part other than the hand is not completely out of the realm of imagination, but it is quite difficult to imagine, especially for a circuit based on an Arduino. When I went to collect the copper strip from the IM lab, I got the idea of taping it to my forehead. And that’s how Sleep-Snitcher 3000 was born.

Conceptually, it is a tongue-in-cheek detector of whether a student is sleeping in class. When a student’s forehead is on the table, the LED lights up. This may also be the right place to add a disclaimer that the maker of this project does not advocate the use of this in schools or other educational institutions. It is meant to only be a fun and slightly satirical project.

Design

Figure 1: Circuit Diagram

The circuit is pretty simple. After this is all that the assignment actually requires. The above is a slightly confusing diagram from Tinkercad that shows the circuit design.

The 5V DC power output pin is used to keep the resistor and one terminal of what is technically a push-button switch live. When my forehead is on the table, it connects the two terminals of the “push-button switch” and thus lights up the LED, whose anode is connected to the the switch and cathode to GND (ground).

Materials

1. Arduino Uno Rev3 SMD x1
2. Jumper wires x5
3. 330Ω carbon resistor x1
4. Breadboard with 400 contacts x1
5. Basic Red 620nm LED x1
6. Aluminum Foil x1 A4 sheet (courtesy of Indian by Nature!)
7. Copper Tape x10 inches
8. Paper Bag x1

Implementation

At first, I was planning to connect one terminal to an aluminum foil sheet on the table and the other to my forehead. This came with a major problem: the wires were just too short. Besides, a hypothetical customer of this product wouldn’t want to connect and disconnect themselves from a circuit repeatedly. Then I remembered that in push-button switches, the button itself is usually not a terminal of the switch but acts as a wire bridging the two terminals. So, I came up with the following split-terminal design using aluminum sheets.

Figure 2: Switch terminals (the green terminal is +ve and the yellow terminal is -ve)

The copper strip simply goes across the forehead and that’s pretty much it.

And finally, the breadboard components were obtained from the Sparkfun kit we were provided, and the Arduino was connected to a laptop for power supply.

Reflections

This turned out to be more fun and simpler than I thought it would be. This was my first experience with Arduino outside of our class, but it felt nice to directly apply the concepts that were drilled into us by both high school physics and FOS. Also, the switch was surprisingly consistent, as I had expected that the circuit would be interrupted by a layer of insulating aluminum oxide. All in all, it was a fun project, with a fun concept.

Use of Generative AI

Generative AI (OpenAI ChatGPT 3.5) was used to name the project (the original name was A Student’s Nightmare) and to generate the disclaimer at the end of the video.

For this assignment, I wanted to create an unusual switch that didn’t use my arms or legs. I thought about different body parts and the next best part for me was my chin. I was then thinking of different conductors to complete the circuit and while I was eating at Indian By Nature, I realized I could use the aluminum foil.

The rest of the circuit was straightforward to create. The switch is created by having two pieces of paper that pop up from each other, to which I stuck some aluminum foil on either side, under which each jumper wire is inserted.

Video:

 

Overall, I am happy with the outcome. It’s nice to see the LED light up after being uncertain if it was going to work or not. Whenever I was struggling in between to get things to stay in place and work, all I had to say to myself was chin up!:)

I would like to further improve my project by adding different “pedals” for different body parts and connect them to separate LEDs.

I was quite busy this week with assignments from other classes that took more time than I had anticipated. Alas, I was quite idea-blocked on what to do for this unusual switch assignment.

Originally, I wanted to see if I could use sound sensors to turn on / off LEDs. However, the IM Lab does not have a sound sensor as of yet. So, I opted for photoresistors.

Exploring the examples provided by Arduino IDE, I found out the fading feature of LED. While it is not an inbuilt feature, by adding delays per update to the LED, we can simulate fading lights.

So, I figured what if I could combine both photoresistors’ outputs with fading light? Well, this is what I made:

I wanted to have some kind of if statements that go beyond what I have here. In my head, I wanted it so that each certain range of photoresistor would give different signals to the light: blinking, full on, full off, etc. However, they are more difficult to implement than I had imagined them.

//PIN NUMBERS
const int ledPin = 9;
const int ldrPin = A0;
int brightness = 0;  // how bright the LED is
int fadeAmount = 5;  // how many points to fade the LED by

void setup() {
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // The input from LDR will be returned to LEd
  pinMode(ldrPin, INPUT); // This is the input, if we obstruct, it will return a signal 
}

void loop() {
  int ldrStatus = analogRead(ldrPin);
  Serial.println(int(ldrStatus));

  analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); //TURN ON LED 

  brightness = brightness + fadeAmount; // Change LED Brightness

  if ((ldrStatus <= 600) && (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 255)){
    fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
  }

  delay(30);
}

For future projects, I hope I have more time and energy to explore the technicalities of Arduino itself. Maybe I could pair the light with an alarm? So that when the sun is up, I can have strobing lights burning into my eyes. It is 2 AM right now, and I am exhausted 🙁

Resources:

The Basics of Arduino: Adjusting LED Brightness (deviceplus.com)

How to Use a Photoresistor (or Photocell) – Arduino Tutorial : 4 Steps (with Pictures) – Instructables

Just using basic chemistry you know that salt is an ionic compound which, when dissolved in water, breaks up completely into ions. Add ions are what moves in a circuit, and what produces energy. So I dissolved some salt in water and used that as a switch. All you have to do is put the wire in the cup and the electricity goes from the board to the water, then from the water to the circuit.

Introduction

For this week assignment, I have been thinking in how to properly implement it. I was thinking in using water, but none of the ideas that came into my mind were fun for me. I also think of using my eyes, but it was too uncomfortable, then I thought about the materials I had in my dorm, and I got reminded of the mask I have.

Not only that, but I have to admit that I generally do not come up with a plan, almost everything I do is spontaneous in a way. Therefore, following this methodology, I grabbed my mask and started in thinking in ways I can accomplish this task.

Materials

• • A 330-ohm resistor.
  • 1 LED light (in this case is red).
  • A breadboard.
  • One red and two black jumper wires.
  • An Arduino board with a 5V and GND output.
  • A mask.
  • Cooper.
  • Tape.
  • Glue.
  • Something to hold the mask in a place.

Process

I needed to set up my Arduino first since, obviously, there would not be any result if it was not properly set up. Therefore, I created the basic connection that consisted in outputting 5V and GND with the use of the jumper wires, although only the red jumper wire was connected. The two black jumper wires were partially connected in order to create the bridge with the use of a conductive material; in this case, cooper.

The mask needs to be prepared in the following way, with the use of cooper and tape:

Also, make sure that the cooper not only is held with tape on the mask, but that the cooper is long enough to paste the male connections of the jumper wires.

Once everything was connected to the breadboard. A resistor was placed in order to receive the positive connection to send to the red LED, and the male connections of the black jumper wires were glued into the loose cooper:

As for the way to create the bridge, there are several ways in which you can approach this. The idea here is to put on the mask without relying on the hands, and for this, I first I made sure that the mask was sitting in one place with the help of a base (in my case, my lamp). Following this, I taped my nose with some cooper in order that, once I put my face into the mask, the taped cooper on my nose would create the bridge and light up the red LED.

Showcase

Observe the following video to see how it operates:

Reflection

I am new to the world of Arduino, and while this is not the most elaborate work, I had fun making it. Yes, not using my hands limited my possibilities, but this comes at the benefit of actually trying to be even more creative. I am curious to see what are the next projects in the course, since I have seen some videos involving this device, although most of them were at the software level; the hardware level is a bit unknown for me.

Inspiration

To get started on the project, I was thinking if there is any object that I usually used. I started to look for any object that is used without the contact of my hands. The solution is my hat. Since the hat is the point of contact with the head and not with the hands, I decided to make a circuit around my hat. Therefore, as I wear my hat, the light will turn on.

Concept

The hat switch uses the a simple circuit with the Arduino board, an LED light, a resistor, some aluminum foils along with battery to attach them on the hat. Below is the schematic of the circuit:

Below is the actual circuit after everything is connected:

implementation

Firstly, I connected the circuit together with the male-to-female wires so that I do not need to use the bread board. After making sure that everything is working properly, I start to attach the aluminum foils to the wires to increase the surface area of contact for the switch. Lastly, I attach everything to my head such that the aluminum foils are placed inside the hat and only come to contact if someone wears it.  Below is the actual visualization of how the final product looks like:

Challenges

It was quite difficult to figuring out how I can attach the breadboard (which also along with the batteries and the Arduino board) to the hat. However, after I look around the IM labs “Consumables” to see what type of material they have, I noticed the different wires that can be connected together without the breadboard.

Reflection

It was a fun assignment that I have to think about the daily action that I could have done differently. Also, I also explore the possible resources that I have in the IM labs in the “Consumables” section.

What I want to improve on is how I can design the hat to be more aesthetic. The current version only have tapes and wires that can clearly be seen at the first glance. I would love to know how I can hide the wires for better design.

The video

Introduction:

At first I wanted to create a switch that would act as a detector if someone opened a journal or a personal diary but upon finding out that we are not allowed to use hands I changed my entire idea. I thought it would be most interesting to use a material that does not typically associate with conductive plate image in our mind. After all, we are all taught how it’s dangerous to play around electronics and water due to its conductive properties (it’s poor but better than air). Surely we could use it for something good. One such application could be the implementation of a very small sensor near all cups, specifically designed for use by blind individuals to detect when their cup is getting full. This project is just a physically bigger version of such project involving following materials:

Materials

• Piezoelectric speaker
• Jumper wires
• Aligator clips
• Arduino Board
• Power Bank
• Cup
• Water

Process

I decided to avoid using resistor at all since the audio produced by speaker wasn’t audible enough and would hardly activate by water touching the clips due to reduced voltage. I also decided to use salt mixed with water to improve conductivity and maximize the sound output. Realistically, if one were to transform this into a real project, we would be using cup integrated batteries, soldered electronics, built in sensor into the cup and any liquid substance. Even if conductivity is not terribly high, we could use a dedicated amplifier or a simple transistor.

At first I connected board to power-bank . I connected jumper wires to the board and alligator clips to jumper wires themselves. Piezoelectric speaker is part of the circuit and is directly mounted on bread board. The jumper wires leaving piezoelectric speaker are directly connected to alligator clips which are then connected to brim of the cup. When water is poured into a cup, at some point it touches the alligator clips and speaker makes highly audible buzz. This just so happens when water is about to overspill, providing the practical aspect of this project.

IMG_5293

Reflection:

The idea of not using hands at all is a challenging one. I even thought about the aspect of indirect hand involvement. However, since it’s the rising water level that acts as a conductive plate and not a hand movement, I think conceptually it works just as well. The execution is pretty straightforward, with very simple design. Yet it tries to solve a realistic problem with minimum resources. In the future, this project could be expanded into an actual product, with more features, while trying to seamlessly integrate design into the cup.

“A switch is nothing more than a mechanism to bring two pieces of conductive material together and separate them. ” Since we are not allowed to use hands, I wanted to make a switch that works using a movement of an object through wind. Which is why I thought that I would stick one wire to a some conductor, and other wire would touch the conductor by moving to it.

The following materials were needed:

• 330-ohm resistor
• 1 LED light
• Jumper wires
• Breadboard
• Arduino board
• Scotch tape

Process:

First, I taped on of the wires connecting to the breadboard to an iron top of a cup. Then, I taped another wire that is connected to the breadboard to the hole of a round bottle (the object that would move by blowing). So, by blowing on the horizontal bottle in the direction of the iron top of the cup, the wires touch this conductor, therefore turning the LED on.

Video Link:https://youtube.com/shorts/U-Gy1GvoFjY?feature=share

Reflection:

I had a hard time brainstorming about ways to not utilize my hands and finding suitable conductors. I had different conductors than the ones I used in mind, but maybe because of the material itself, the LED was blinking dimly, so I had to change them. I expected taping process to be difficult considering the wires have to be put in place, but thanks to the conductor having a big surface area, it was not as difficult as I imagined.

Concept:

Before starting anything else, I  contemplated what I would like to use as an “electrical conductor” that will enable the flow of electricity. At first, I was thinking about utilizing aluminum foil in my project. However, unfortunately, I could not find any aluminum foil in the IM lab. So, I used salt water as my conductor. Looking at the cup of salt water, I suddenly thought of a “diver”. And I decided to work on this project with the concept of “diver”. I wanted to make the switch to be activated when the diver dives into the cup of salt water. However, since we are allowed to use our hands, I thought that it would be really interesting to make the users use their elbows to turn on the light. 

To bring this concept to life, I utilized the following materials: 

• 330-ohm resistor
• 1 LED light 
• Jumper wires
• Cup of salt water
• Breadboard
• Arduino board
• Cable tie 
• Duct tape
• Scotch tape 

By combining these elements, I came up with a very cute and responsive switch design that allows users to let the diver dive into the water and turn on the light. 

Process: 

First of all, I made a simple circuit with four wires applying what we have learned from the class. Then, I unplugged the other end of the wire that is connected to the resistor and the other end of the wire that is connected to the LED light. Then, I attached the unplugged ends to the hand of the “diver”. So that when the diver dives into the water, the ends of these wires will also meet the water. And the water, working as a conductor, will connect these wires, ultimately enabling the LED light to be turned on as the circuit will be closed.

 

Light on 

Then, off!

Video of the project: 

Reflections 

As usual, I enjoyed doing this assignment. I barely have any experience using Arduino Uno, so this was my first time making a project using Arduino Uno. There were no particular difficulties in figuring out how to make the switch work. However, it took me quite a while to figure out what concept I should do to make my “unusual switch” both unique and cute. Also, it was quite hard for me to find a method to utilize other parts of the body to turn on the switch as I could not think of other body parts for switching off something. I think I could improve this project idea by letting more LED lights turn on when the diver dives in as if the LED lights are the audience looking at the diver. This way, I think my project could be more interesting and fancy. 

The end justifies the means. In other words, if the final result is what is desired, then any means of getting to that result is justified. In the case of aesthetics (or lack thereof), then, this theory of consequentialism can be applied to justify ugly design. At the end of the day, if the product or element works with a bad design, it still works. Even if physically or visually unattractive, as long as it serves its purpose, then any means of achieving the final prototype/item is justified. For instance, the “ugly” teapot by Michael Graves is justified in its “ugliness” because it achieves what it is meant to be doing. On the other hand, Jacques Carelman’s teapot, which is arguably more attractive than Graves’, is not effective – so we can’t really say that its beauty is justified by its end. But then, are the ends everything? Should one forfeit beauty for the sake of usability? Not always, as shown through the author’s very own collection. Obviously, a lot of things need a usable and working design for the world to function. But these same things can also be taken as they are solely for their beauty. So perhaps, the ends may not matter as much. Now, the author argues that attractive design makes things easier to use, but I think we must distinguish between ugly and uneffective. The door example argues that in a in a frantic, urgent environment (i.e. a fire), one will be stressed and not thinking straight, and therefore be more likely to fumble opening a door with a bad design. But I still think that a bad design is not necessarily an ugly design. If anything, a beautiful design may be ineffective, while an ugly one may be effective. This goes back to the “ugly” teapot. Besides, how attractive can a fire exit door really be?