Start construction whether it’s circuits or housing
Write beneficiaries
Write draft of wall text
What I did this week
Supervisor Meeting Notes
Thesis
Detailed Blog, Thesis summarises
Literature Review
Reason for choosing medium by excluding another medium
doesn’t need to be back up by evidence
Inspiration for the piece
50% research 50% process
Iterations
Whole piece
and document the individual in the blog
Financial reasons for doing things a certain way is fine
Separate weekly posts and extra detail
laser cut test gears for user control slider and trackpad mechanism out of acrylic.
Meeting with Alex
Alex is the prototyping technician. We went over some of my designs and he said that I would need to make the circuits first before making the housing for them to go in. I’m thinking of making one circuit and housing at a time.
Meeting with Sarah
Had a meeting about the exhibition. They need to see pictures of what’s been made, a draft of the wall text and be notified of any changes that have been made. I wasn’t expecting this I was hoping to work on my thesis writing over the weekend.
buy hamster wheels, solenoids
I had to buy an extra solenoid as CCI didn’t have anymore available. I also bought the hamster wheels. They look good, i’ll need to ask Alex what the best way to fix them to the servos.
test button 3d printing
I did a test of the button cap for the user control box. the hole that the solenoid is supposed to go through doesn’t fit. So I’ll have to make it bigger in the model before printing again.
bought the acrylic
I decided on the fluorescents as they let light pass through them the best and the colours worked nicely together. The red and orange are quite similar. But I’ll use them for the smallest panels as they’re on either side of the piece so I’m hoping they’ll look different enough if they’re not next to one another.
I also bought 2 sheets of clear frosted for light diffusing the spatial organisation box and interface re-mediation.
Consult technician for physical computing elements
No supervisor meeting this week cause of bank holiday
What I did this week
I made a 3D model of the spatial organisation box to figure out the dimensions needed.
Technician Meeting Notes
I had a meeting with Zeyu the physical computing technician. We went through each part of the sculpture and the circuitry.
Spatial Organisation
Strip of LEDs use tracing paper to stop the spotting light effect
Strip board
Multi core wire
Switch
MOSFET
Plug into the wall
User control
Linear actuator
Integrated chip
Circuit for linear solenoids for self pushing buttons
Interface remediation
HDMI connection for screen
Raspberry pi
I had the formative presentation which didn’t go too well. This is the feedback from it.
You can start explaining what your project is about. What do you mean the capacity of the computer – do you mean in terms of power?or metaphorically? – Please do not forget the citations. – How does it highlight how modern GUIS quietly shape – makes invisible structures – Gantt chart a bit more detailed with dates. – Be more focused on the connection interaction HCI
It did make me realise that I was focusing too much on how I got to the project not the project itself in my thesis. I also got worried I wouldn’t be able to do the sculpture I planned out as the circuits weren’t working. But after the presentation I went to the physical computing lab and managed to get integrated chip and linear actuator working.
circuit for linear actuator
I’ve learnt that a linear actuator can’t move at a certain distance at different speeds. So, I’ll need to use a stepper servo with a rack and pinion.
user control: circuit for solenoids
time compressed processes: servo circuit
rack and pinion
I couldn’t move the pinion with the lever but I assume that this is due to friction caused by the wood and cardboard.
Zeyu mentioned COB LEDs, on the day we could only find small panels. But I found strips so I’ll use these for the lights in the spatial organisation part.
Over the weekend I made a new structure for my introduction.
I inquired about cutting the pieces for the hardware part of the sculpture but it was too expensive £300-400. But I had an idea there’s a few charities that refurbish laptops. So, I’m going to contact them and ask if I can if they can spare any broken circuit boards that can’t be refurbished. Instead of using metal use circuit boards. I think this might be better as it makes it clearer that that part of the sculpture is all about computer hardware.
