Project Deadline Approaching....

With our model underway, Shaun and I wanted to see if we could connect our Arduino to an ipod so that we would cut down on space... The process looks a little something like this:

http://www.jonasolson.se/content/arduino_tutorial/

Needless to say, it looks a little complicated- but still possible? Unfortunately not at this juncture. Looks like we're going to have to stay connected to one of our laptops for the white house.

More Error Messages....

March is scary

It's mid-March, and both Shaun and I are a bit nervous, as we're trying to work out the bugs in our project.  We both had somewhat different conceptions of how our model should be created (I was liberal with the creation, Shaun took a more structured approach...) So we ended up with a jumble of happy mediums.  Last week we had a lot of trouble with Firmata and Processing, so this week, we're hoping to be able to participate and run through the exercises with the rest of the class and figure out how we can start to integrate! Most of our scrips are done, and we've chosen the four rooms in the white house we want to continue creating 

1. The Oval Office

2. The Roosevelt Room

3. The Situation Room

4. The East Room

Model Students

Today Shaun and I are cracking out our supplies- we're going to try to make this model over the weekend (the whole thing's definitely not going to happen, but at least we'll have made some progress!)  We're going to try to make the basic structure and play it by ear, we don't know for sure where all of our wires and sensors are going to go so the model is going to have to be tentative for now.

Matt sent us a great link over twitter which tells you how to connect the arduino to your ipod!  This would be really helpful- considering we were planning to hook the wires up to one of our laptops.  We're going to get to work, but we'll update on Monday as to how we're doing.

The best part about this, is the pink glue gun....

Error Messages are no fun.

Fun Stuff....

Over the past few weeks, we've been having a lot of fun learning how to use inkscape, sketch up and working on our projects.  After the difficulties I had with processing, it was nice to be able to draw and design images without coding anything.... When we started out with inkscape, my partner was away, so I had free range to draw whatever I wanted! I started out using the star shape,

and then moved on to drawing Ninja Turtles.  All of which were extremely pertinent to my project and area of research...

Sketchup fit in a little bit more with what Shaun and I were doing, Shaun even found a sketchup of the White House that had already been completed- It was a little more detailed than my clubhouse...

Although it was nice to be able to play around in 3d to create structures and consider the route we wanted to take with our model.  Essentially, what we want to create is a model of the White House with four rooms that are open.  In each of these rooms, when a figurine enters, we would like to cue or program an audio recording which can explain the room, it's function and roles in history.  Last class, professor Turkel gave us a sensor to work with.  Little did we know, the magnet had to be out of it's plastic casing for the sensor to work.  So something we thought had been a failure may turn out very well.

This is pretty much an example of how our class time is used.  Mostly we both make an effort to try things out and if they work correctly, or as they're supposed to- it's an obvious plus.  Hopefully we'll have a bit of time to try the sensors again today using the correct method.  If this doesn't work out, I was speaking to Matt earlier on, who suggested a push button instead of a sensor for our model.  I think this is also a great idea, and if a push button facilitates the process then we can start imagining how we can take the model further and perhaps incorporate more digital features.