P.Comp Midterm Project " Drawing Excercise"
The idea we had was to translate movement into a P5 sketch. Initially we thought of developing a glove that would act as a brush. I work with Angel on solidifying the idea of what type of movement we wanted to translate into the canvas. During our research we tested different sensors, one of them was a conductive rubber cord stretch sensor, unfortunately the readings were not precise. Angel created a code that would change the brush size with a thin film pressure sensor. It also used the built-in accelerometer as way to track movement. We added a small LED screen on the Arduino so see in in real time time the changes of the brush.
After our "15 min- speed meeting" in class we received a lot of great feedback and decided to translate the entire body movement. Our inspiration came from a playground wobble board.
In order to capture the movement to the breadboard, we kept the setting of the first prototype a pressure sensor was set to enhance the color the built-in accelerometer directed the movement of the paint brush on P5 when it was tilted .
The breadboard had 3 buttons each with a specific setting ( 1. changing the shape of the brush, options include a triangle, a square or a circle , 2. Make the shape solid or unfilled leaving just the stroke to paint 3. Reseting the board to a blank canvas.) The board was connected to a battery so we didn't have to rely on the power of the computer.
While building the prototype we decided to put the motion sensor in the position were the foot would go. We connected the pressure sensor to the board using wire wrapping wire. We added a tube to pass the wire as well as to keep the board accessible to the user in case they wanted to access the buttons.
Testing the Prototype
It was difficult to keep the balance while on the ball so we lean against a wall for safety.
The pressure sensor on the foot really enhanced the experience of the drawing. As the body lean to the left, the brush mirror all the action and draw them in P5.
