Due to the holiday weekend I received the majority of my parts a few days later than I anticipated even with the express shipping charge. While that was unfortunate it gave me time to focus on the tutorials for each part so that when they did finally arrive on Wednesday I was able to get straight to hooking everything up. It also gave me time to explore more Processing based data visualizations and really dive into what is possible.
Research and Inspiration
Here is a list of the tutorials I have completed and then adapted for my project:
Using an FSR (Force Sensitive Resistor)
Pull Down vs. Pull Up Resistors
Here is a list of the tutorials that are next on my to-do list:
Adafruit M0 Adalogger Header Assembly
NXP Precision 9DOF Sensor Assembly
Due to the holiday weekend I had to rearrange my work schedule slightly and that gave me time to dive deeper into some Processing sketches for inspiration. Below are some links to Open Processing sketches that I have bookmarked and begun to unpack:
My Sketch by Yasai – There is something beautiful about how the artist uses noise to slowly draw something that resembles a topographic map. (The movement of this piece inspires me to possibly present dynamic views of the visualizations as well as prints.)
Distortion Test 3 by ndisorder – This sketch is simplistic in it’s code but creates something extremely interesting when the noise is applied. I’m curious to see how the data could be used to alter the noiseSeed as well as the noise multipliers and subtractors to generate interesting and unique visualizations. This sketch also inspires me to present moving sketches as part of my final deliverables.
First Day of Spring by Alexander Hopscotch – Not only does the title interest me with it’s relation to nature but the shifting colors and generation of particles create a beautifully dynamic element to this sketch. Using the data to drive a similar sketch (instead of the mouse) could present something that is simple yet compelling especially when the differences are created by human movement input.
Perlin Curves by Annika – The use of Perlin Noise just grabs my attention for some reason and I know that I want to incorporate it into my visualization sketch. It is something that I’m still learning and due to the introduction of it last quarter and revisitiation of it this quarter I’m beginning to grasp how to apply it more and more. Adding the movement driven data to it will produce something that I’m sure I could watch for hours.
Messy Curve Draw by Sen – While this sketch is different from the others it sparked a possible idea to use the data gathered from each participant to draw portraits that are unique to that specific participant using the varying data to cause these portraits to look different. (Color, length of line, curve vs. angle, etc…) This is something I need to ponder on over the weekend.
Other Processing (desktop) based sketches include the use of OpenGL and audio libraries to use audio values to visualize (something I would replace with the arrays of movement data from the 6 total sensors in this “wearable”.
Noise is the primary element in a lot of these sketches and it is something I plan to get an even better hold of over the weekend. Considering that I’m also incorporating IMU data there is a possibility of creating this noise in a 3D (OpenGL or WebGL) environment but that is another topic I need to unpack.
Process
Above is a list of all the tutorials I completed for this project so far. Below are some pictures documenting those processes as well as the adaptations to this specific project.
The photos above represent the following steps:
- Laying out all the materials
- Hooking up one FSR sensor to the SparkFun Redboard for testing and coding purposes
- Testing FSR sensing under an insole
- Hooking up two FSR sensors to the Redboard and printing seperate sensor data to the Serial Monitor at the same time
- Testing two FSR sensors under an insole
Below are screen captures of the Serial monitor readouts for one and two FSR sensors:
Along with the additional tutorials and device setup I need to complete I believe that some beneficial next steps would be to further comment out all the Open Processing sketches that I like and begin to combine the elements of each sketch that I like into one sketch that I can start to parse sensor data through.
Reflection
This was the first time that I ordered electrical components for one of my own projects and while I feel that I ordered all that was necessary there were a couple things that fell through the cracks on this first round. I successfully put together the list of all the components needed but misunderstood some of the verbiage on the site regarding what was included. I though that the proto board that was being added on was the board that is compatible with the Featherboard to Featherwing and it ended up just being a regular protoboard so I had to order the additional parts which has caused me to have to rearrange my work schedule. While this is unfortunate it is definitely an important lesson learned for the future of my physical computing endeavors.
Due to this I have discovered two options: Order the Featherwing proto boards or try my hand at some expert level soldering (necessary to not burn out the FSR sensors when they get soldered to connecting wires). Either way it will be learning experience that I’m grateful for.
I have also discovered that I enjoy the documentation process of physical computing! Especially when it involves getting proper readouts in the Serial Monitor and having to make my own code adaptations (in this case that involved getting two sensors to read out using the same board).
My new found interest in presenting dynamic visualizations opens the door for a future iteration of this project where the data is sent to the sketch while the individual is performing the activity thus creating a live visualization of their movements.
Another success I had was discovering the wealth of knowledge that certain EDP faculty have with this matter AND the willingness at which they are excited to work through problems and provide advice on next steps.
I can say that I have a combination of emotions when I think about and work on this project and it could probably be described as a nervous excitement or maybe a excited nervousness. Either way I’m very happy to be learning new skills through this project.