progress update 2

With the installation taking place on campus in the green space we needed a way to be able to move the lights in and out with easy and effortlessly. We chose to use 2x4 wood as the basis of how we will do that. sitting the 2x4s on top of the metal railing in the green screen room allowed us to take it on and off without having to re-tie everything every time we go in. We currently have most of the lights up with the corsponding servo motors as well as the static pressure sensors whats left now is the calibration to get it all working

** a change we did to the lights was cover all sides to block off any god rays that the acrylic would create on the gound making the effect less distracting and more shimmer light.

progress updates

the beginning of the installation has began, majority of the 8 lights are finished. Some of the problems we are currently trying to address the sound issue from th servo motors. We are using foam boxes to insulate the servo motos to dampen the noise. The box works out pretty well but it doesn't complete eliminate the sound. As for the rest of the installation, the sensors for the lights are in progress and we have to use a lighter colored material for the floor to help show the shimmer lines better as dark material do not work well with the reflection of the lights.

final project

For the final project we are planning to create an installation using the shimmering lights, by using 8 lights like the following pdfs demonstrate.

http://www.sfu.ca/~jhl10/technical2.pdf
http://www.sfu.ca/~jhl10/technical.pdf
http://www.sfu.ca/~jhl10/technical3.pdf

Sketch 2 final update

Fabrication and circuit work was one of the main focuses as we are trying to replicate the same light 8-10x to allow for a semi decent sized installation. With that we started the production of the lights. Each light consisted of 3 LEDs in parallel (will become 6 in the final) and 3 resistors. These lamps will be running in pairs off a single arduino board while all the servos run off 1 or 2 boards.

Sketch 2 allows us to see the bigger picture for what our sketch 3 needed to become, the tweaks needed on the amount of LEDs and possibly finding a way to overcome the servo noise issues (possibly silent servos). It gave us quite a great sense of how much work is to come.

Sketch 2 Update

After presenting the idea to Jinsil and Greg we started to explore the options we have to move the body of water within the light to sllow shimmer lines to be created. We tested micro vibrators, cellphones, micro vibrator with fishing line attached, and servo motors. Out of the ones we tested the most desirable effect came out of the servo motors, however we didnt like the amount of noise that was created via them.

So for sketch 2 we decided to go with the servos to show how it would work, allowing us to demonstrate the effect of the lights in an installation.



The sensor of choice for sketch 2 was a GSR sensor, we made a simple one out of tin foil and a resistor and it worked out quite well, though a little weird at time as the values jump too fast and didnt give us a fade in fade out effect. Something we wish to address in sketch

Prototyping for Sketch 2: Shimmer Light Installation

Looking at what we wanted to do for the final project of this course we decided that it is probably best that we utilize the time available for us in sketch two to start working towards acheiving the final goal for course.

The concept of the final project in which we call the shimmer light installtion was inspired by the glimmer lines created when the sun (single source lighting) hits the ripples from the oceans surface (refraction) the result forms a very unique and calming effect that we want to replicate into a physical installation.



Concept Sketch:

For the installation we want to incorporate sensors that trigger as users get closer to a particular light. this will bring forth a sense of "space/aura" that defines where is a person and his/her personal space. we also wanted to add a sense of color into seperating the users with possible tone differences or even full spectrum differences of RGB.


Prototype:

The rapid prototyping phase consisted of finding and experimenting with materials that would best imitate the effect of the glimmering lines of light that appears at the bottom of the sea from the refraction of sun shining through the oceans water surface. We explored plastics from water bottles, clear plastic containers and determined which material would be most suitable yet provide an aesthetically pleasing feel to the look to the light yet functions the best. At the moment we are focusing on how to impliment the vibration through the controll of micro motors so the surface of the water within the light will vibrate thus create the shimmer lines you would see at the bottom of the ocean floor.

Thumb Wars

After playing with soft circuits for a bit we really started to enjoy using it. As a result a circuit fully based on soft circuit switches was made so we can play a little game of thumb wars with each other. With our hands we held in the position of the thumb wars and from there we determined the position of the switches. The pictures show a working in progressof our circuit