Shikhar
From Wiki
tuesday 7TH July…
Today as we started talking about music and talking about the financial aspects of art and science, I did not find myself being able to bring much to the table.
Reading up about David Dunn, it was a bit unclear what the direction of the project that we are doing would be. Though the writing did make sense to me and I would say I could understand most or it and at least I did get the gist of it.
The following exercise of writing codes on Processor was quite enjoyable as it required me to think a bit.
I wish that the project we are going to take up eventually becomes clear soon and I am able to link what we do in class to what we will be doing later.
wednesday 8th July...
We learnt how to use a couple of loops today, 'if' and 'while', and what conditions are in the syntax.
The entire day we were just required to work on two main programs:
1. Filling up the window with alternately coloured squares
2. The pre-defined library function 'keyPressed'
The first one was quite challenging and the method which i used did not work hence i had to borrow a different method which would only work if one figures out what values to put in but not for a generic value of size and position of squares. I still want to figure that out.
The 'keyPressed' function was fairly simple and only used simple commands.
thursday 9th July...
All we did today was tried to make Arduino work through Processing.
monday 13th July
We began the day with reading of some articles.... the links:
1. http://www.gobartimes.org/20090715/gt_covfeature.asp
2. http://www.cseindia.org/campaign/apc/apc-index.htm
3. http://www.cseindia.org/AboutUs/press_releases/press-20090722.htm
4. http://www.beatrizdacosta.net/pigeonblog.php
We discovered the various types of variables there are... "char" "float" "arrays" "strings" ...
Later on, we learnt how to add an image and a font to the sketch folder and opening the image and entering text onto the screen using Processing.
After this Viktor showed us the project which he was part of and we discovered the simple, yet rich world of Arduino and its possibilities.
tuesday 14th July
I missed most of today due to an upset stomach.
Though I did manage to make the map with three points with numbers next to them, it was pretty simple.
wednesday 15th July
I completed making the representation of the number of members of parliaments with and without political background in the family.
After reading the tutorials in the morning, we got down to discovering the various sensors that are available for use, we were then required to design an interactive product in small groups using the sensors.
thursday 16th July
We figured out the product we wanted to make and then did research about how to use the breadboard since we hadn't used one before. After waiting all morning when it was time to leave, we finally got the breadboard.
We decided to make an interactive Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer: if we press it's tail, the tune is played and his nose blinks. We planned to do this by using a capacitive touch sensor. We figured out the tune by researching the notes online and got the LED to blink simultaneously. The sensor we picked up did not work hence we could not complete the assignment.
monday 20th July
Today in the morning we tried to figure out how to work the infra-red proximity sensors unsuccessfully, after which Marc made a presentation about basics of electrical circuits and how they work.
In the afternoon we were experimenting putting circuits together with Marc using pre-programmed NAND gates and potentiometers.
tuesday 21st July
We started the day with learning a bit about scripting for editing a website. In the afternoon we experimented a bit more with the circuits and we finally got down to receiving data from the sensor, Today we used a light sensor.
wednesday 22nd July
This morning we were given the assignment to use a sensor and receive data from it and upload it onto the internet. My group decided to use an infra-red motion sensor to detect the presence of girls in front of the mirror in the bathroom.
In the evening we had a DIY workshop at CEMA. It was mainly about collecting the parts n soldering them together. It was fun.
thursday 23rd July
We completed writing the code to make the sensor work and learning how to send the data to pachube.
After this, the scientists arrived and we had a discussion with them.
monday 27th July
Today we had a bioelectronix workshop conducted by hackteria which Marc is a part of. We created a simple microscope connected to a computer by inverting the lens of a webcam.
We examined some specimens of little living organisms and experimented with different lighting.
our kickass slide-microscope
The link to the video of the working microscope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95ExR_0FhA
tuesday 28th July
This morning we went for a walk collecting specimens which would be likely to have visible living organisms in them.
We came back and examined some samples under the microscope but none of the 14 different samples we had collected showed any signs of life.
wednesday 29th July
All we did today was collect photos and videos of yesterday's exercise and posted it on the hackteria log.
Links to videos:
1. kadai water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnOW_K_9YqQ
2. moss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArxK3f6rPuk
3. tree bark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjJ_BhdfFU4
thursday 30th July
We discussed different proposals for final projects today.
Concept for the pollution sensor
- Statistics show that pollution due to keeping the ignition on during traffic signals is more harmful and intense than just moving traffic.
- Pollution sensor is installed at a traffic signal.
- Simple graph that anyone can understand shows people the data.
- Since majority of the people keep their ignition on during signals, they can see an immidiate increase of pollution levels on an LCD/LED. During our talk with the scientists, we came to a consensus that people are hesitant to do much if they dont see any immidiate danger or result.
- The LED/LCD screen will inidicate to the people that it might help to reduce the pollution indicated on the display if they kindly switch off their ignitions.
- If and when they do that, the levels will automatically go down and the screen will display a "Thank you, your effort has helped in moving towards a cleaner future".(or something to that effect).
- Though in the bigger picture we are targeting all the vehicle using audience, we are segmenting them each time to only the people at the signal at that particular time.This works in a way that it is directed to a small number of peopl which will make it more effective.
- By doing this, people will feel more personally involved, and they also dont need to take time off to do so.
monday 3rd August
This morning Rustam came and gave us some direction to work towards and asked us to be more specific which would help in being more effective, the need to identify the right audience.
After this we tried to divide ourselves based on the different approaches and strategies we would like to work with.
After this, we chose which groups we wanted to be in and started making sketches on what the display would be like.
Link to the video of our idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b1_vw-bzRs
tuesday 4th August
We got down to working on our chosen projects today. I am part of the traffic signal pollution detector project, along with a couple of other people. We made a 3D model of the project on google sketchup. We discussed whether the project will be of much use, and thought of its shortcomings which we need to work around. For our prototype, we are working on an LCD screen and connecting it to a gas sensor.
wednesday 5th August
Today we did some research trying to find information on the traffic signals of Bangalore looking for the longest one and going into why the timer display was removed. We found that few people actually did turn off their ignitions at traffic signals when there was a long time for the signal to turn green, which consequently resulted in the pollution levels due to idling at traffic signals go down.
thursday 6th August
We began to work on making the prototype for the project. We tried to get the LCD screen to work. It has very complicated connections but the code is available online. We then tried to get the gas sensor working separately, but found it very difficult to solder it and get it functioning.
monday 10th August
All of today we were trying to connect the gas sensor working, but it kept short-circuiting so we could not get the proper values. Finally towards the end of the day we managed to make the gas sensor work. The challenge is now to integrate both the LCD screen and the gas sensor and test it.
tuesday 11th August
After a lot of struggle, we finally integrated the LCD screen and the gas sensor.
Below are the photos and the link to the video.
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ0OatUm0rs
wednesday 12th August
Now that we have integrated the LCD screen and gas sensor, we got down to working on the graph. It was quite simple and just used a map function to divide the input sensor values to get the right number of bars. The code is below.
'#'include <LiquidCrystal.h>
int flexpin = 1;
int val;
int minVal = 10;
int maxVal = 500;
LiquidCrystal lcd(2, 1, 3,4,5,6,7);
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop()
{
val = analogRead(flexpin);
delay(1000); lcd.clear();
lcd.print("Pltn.Level: "); lcd.print(val); lcd.setCursor(0,1); int unit = map(val,minVal,maxVal,1,16);
for (int i=0;i<unit;i++) {
lcd.print(255,BYTE);
}
}
thursday, 13th August
Today we made the circuit a bit neater and mounted the arduino board and the breadboard onto a piece of wood.
We also began to think a bit about the format of the presentation.
monday, 17th August
Today we did not do anything because our prototype was locked up inside my house due to the unfortunate events that took place over the weekend.
tuesday, 18th August
It took me forever to travel by bus to the city this weekend. The amount of pollution on the Bangalore roads is simply insane. It's difficult to breathe, especially at the traffic signals, where the air is stagnant. I was thinking that if the project is successful, it has the power to change at least that.
We sat down to disguise our setup. We put it into a box and covered it up neatly.
wednesday, 19th August
Started working on our presentation today, used this very easy-to-use online software.
thursday, 20th August
The scientists came today. All groups made their presentations to them and we shared ideas. We came to learn a lot about what we can do to improve our project.
monday, 24th August
Today we created a facebook group to conduct a poll to find out what people feel about the rising pollution levels. Through the group, we also plan to publicize the project when it comes up.
tuesday, 25th August
AIM: To visit the Traffic Control Room in order to get information about the traffic signals of that region and thier timings
10:45 reached the Commisioner of Police's Office at Infantry Road
we were told to wait for the lady officer to arrive to meet the DCP PRO
11:30 we got permission to meet the DCP and we went to his Office
he told us to meet the ACP of Bangalore Police Control Room
the ACP said that we would have to take permission from the Traffic Police DCP at Shivaji Nagar
12:00 reached Shivaji Nagar Traffic Police Control Room and went to DCP's office
there we were told that he has gone to Infantry Road for a meeting which would last for at least 2 hours
13:00 after having lunch, we reached Infantry Road Commisioner's Office
they said that Mr. Mutthana(DCP Traffic Police) was in a meeting
we waited there till 14:30 when we asked an assistant if DCP was still in the meeting
he told us that he had gone for lunch already and would be back at Shivaji Nagar by 16:30-17:00 hrs
14:30 we went to the various traffic signals and tested our sensor and saw the different possibilities
16:30 we reached Shivaji Nagar and were told that Mr. Mutthana won't be back today
The days.....
These few days we were monitoring the Facebook profile.
We also went to document the t-shirt. It was very irritating. Only 2 people out of 5 from the t-shirt group turned up while all of us from my group came. Dhruv and Kannan couldn't keep their personal enmities out of the work and hence we had to split which resulted in incomprehensive documentation.
For our final documentation of the Smoke Signal project, we had to make a video.
And finally another set of photos which I rightfully should not have been taking and editing.
