Mockups

Storyboard

This is a storyboard of how our project will work and all the different platforms we will use. The beginning part and the end part will not be the same but it will be very similar. The most important part is what happeneds inside the PC.

Flash Animation

This is a mock-up of our project done in Flash.

This is not how exactly it is going to look like, but it should give you a pretty good idea what it is about.

Mash-up Mock-up

This is a mock-up using various bits of software to show the different parts of the system. This shows a physics simulation of how the in and out parts may turn out with a mock up of the computer side of the project made in after effects.

Reflection

Group work
The group work, overall, was pretty good. There was a slight issue with getting both groups together as the lecture times were completely different. Having the sessions moved to a Wednesday helped since the stage 1 students could go to the earlier one and meet with the students from stage 2.

With the actual work, we got the stage 1 students to focus on the blog, design and the real world parts while the stage 2 students were tasked with writing the code for the computer system and arduinos.

The board game

The board game we based our installation on made for an interesting project, and with further development, could continue into other computers; there is possibility to jump from machine to machine using both real world and virtual methods.

Going from the original idea of Mouse Trap being the board game to a Rube Goldburg machine that goes from the real world to the virtual and back out is something that, as far as we know, hasn't been done before. There have been computer based Rube Goldberg machines, but none that interact in the way we have done it.


The installation
The installation was a bit of a pain to setup, thanks to the many parts we were using. Once it was setup and we ran a few test runs we were confident that the final run would go smoothly enough to capture on video for presentation.

What we liked
The machine is very awe-inspiring. Getting it up and running was a pain, but once it was fully running it was exciting watching each part knock together. We also liked how we had setup the real world part of the machine, because it was the hardest part to visualise for things like mock-ups. In the end it turned out very well.

What could of been improved

Communication could have been improved vastly, and was one of the more troubling parts of this project. With better communication, the project time scale could have been vastly improved.

What we have learnt

We have learnt that organization is very important, as each of us had other commitments we needed to attend to so could not always turn up to meetings. Some members of the project had work, so some days had to be missed because we could not get everyone together to work on it.

Implemention/Realisation

The building process (jobs and activities undertaken)
When we got to our space, we picked out a spot we thought would be good to start the Rube Goldburg machine and started building a ramp for the ball to roll down. From there on we placed the rest of the machine down and ran a few test runs. Once happy that it would work, we set the PC up with the arduino boards and placed the light sensor in the right place. Ignoring the relay switch for the time being, we placed the other parts of the machine and ran a test run using a normal desk fan instead of the fan being used on the relay switch.

One we were happy with the in and out contraptions, we did a quick test of the computer system. Covering up the light switch with a spare cup to get it started, followed it through to the relay switch turning on the fan. Once that was OK'd, and we tried a few test runs, we got ready to film the whole thing.


Problems encountered
There were a few issues with the computer based part of the design. The email wasn't getting sent to being with, but this was an error within the code that was fixed easily. Another problem that we encountered was the computer itself; we had to put it on a slightly unbalanced surface that was enough to disconnect the power cable, therefore turning it off. We fixed this by propping it up with some cardboard we had left over. Everything else wasn't nearly as much of a hassle

The real world part was a nightmare at some points. One of the DVD cases got broken when it got kicked by accident, causing us to go hunt for another. We had a few cases of balls going in the wrong direction and getting lost under furniture, and the most annoying part has to be setting everything back up when the starting ball would get knocked, causing the rest of the unbuilt machine to activate.

Parts we did not implement (and why)
We had quite a lot of leftover parts we brought along for the real world part of the whole thing. Some of the things we ended up leaving out include:

• Sellotape - We found it wasn't strong enough, so used duct tape
• Half a box of dominoes - We couldn't squeeze the rest of them in somewhere
• Wind up kids toys - We had a few of these, some of them just not needed
• Playing cards - We did not have the skills to keep a house made of these up

Screenshots and walkthroughs of what has been built so far (or any mock-ups you have created)
So far, we have these mock-ups made by members of the group...

Storyboard
This storyboard shows our project, including the platforms we will use. The final project is very similar to what the storyboard shows, with major changes to the real world part.

Descriptions of how it works

The whole thing works by using real world objects to move in a certain formation that causes other objects to move, much like the effect that dominoes have when lined up on their smaller edge and pushed but with a bit more ingenuity. This would then cause the virtual part of the machine to activate with a similar effect to it's real world counterpart, displaying webpages, showing animations and sending data to other sites. Once the right condition is met, the computer activates the rest of the real world objects. At the end, a roll of kitchen towels gets knocked and unrolls, revealing some written text.

Actual timetable

Put up Time
9:50am - Get to house.
10:20am - Start setting up Rube Goldberg machine (input)
11:30pm - set up PC
12:30pm - Start setting up Rube Goldberg machine (output)
2pm - Dry runs (Making adjustments where needed)
3:30pm - Film and editing

Pull Down Time
5:30pm - Tidy equipment
6:10pm - Load up car
6:30pm - Return PC
6:35pm - Leave

Deployment

Set up time - As the set up with be in someone house the set up time for the project is very flexible. However it can not be unsociable hour due to other people in the house. It would also be a good idea to film while it was still daylight because this would produce the best light to see by.

Vandalism - As we are filming inside someone house vandalism is not a issue. The other problem we could have is from the other people in the house wanting to use the room. They could knock thing over and interferer with the setup.

Security - The project is something that we are going to put up and film and take down so the security isn't that big of a deal. The only thing we need to make sure is once the installation has been set up that no one is going to mess around with it. This is easily done in a house because we can lock the door and control who uses the room.

Filming - We will be filming inside. We need to make sure that we have good light available so we can see each part clearly. Another thing we are going to have to worry about is how to actually film it because it will set out over such a big space.Another issue that we might have is fully capturing the computer side.

Health and safety

• We could trip over the object on the floor, we will have to be careful where we step.

• No sharp object that we could cut ourselves on.

• No liquid near the electrics, chance of electrocution.

• Open flame should be secure, to lower chance of fire.

Deployment time table (put up)

10am - Get to house.

10:30am - Set up the PC in the room.

11am - Build the Rube Goldberg machine and set up PC side.

1pm - Dry run (making sure all the links work and it runs smoothly).

1:30pm - Make any adjustments needed.

2pm - Film and editing

Deployment time table (pull down)

4pm - Tidy equipment back into boxes.

4:15pm - Load up car.

4:30pm - Put room back together and return PC to proper place.

Equipment list

PC's
light sensors
Relay Switch
Computer Programmes
DVD Cases
Cardboard Box
Dominoes
String
Scissors
Candles
Playing cards
Bounce balls (4)
Bubbles
Tape/Glue
Cotton rel (Large one for wire)
Cardboard tube
Paper cups
Books
Elastic bands
Ruler
Kids toys (wind up toy, mechanic ect)
Fan
Dublo
Blue tack
Mousetrap the game
Kitchen roll

Requirements

Below are the requirements for the installation. We decided these requirements from both our environmental survey and contextual study.

Digital interactive installation - It must use some form of technology that a person will be able to interactive with.

Board game inspiration - The idea for the installation must come from a board game. Once it has been produce you should still see element of the game.

Must be in a large open space - The space need to be able to hold our installation and deal with people interacting with the installation.

Must use multiply platform - We want the installation to use namy different platforms such as email, facebook, twitter ect.

Must run smoothly - We want something that doesnt rely to much on people interaction. Something that will run smoothly with barly any interacrtion.

Must be both real world and digital -We want to produce something that crosses from the real world into the digital work and back out again.

Environmental study/ Contextual study

We decided that for our project we should use some indoor environment. Considering all the little parts which would create our domino we must avoid all side effect like wind and so on.

We are going to use a big room/house of one of use. The room must be big, I mean there should be a lot of space on a floor, because all the installation will be place there. We will be also filming it so the space is really essential. Optimally there shouldn't be any carpet to avoid disturbances on the floor, but some non-shaggy carpet is acceptable as well. Windows should be closed, because of the wind. As for the filming we should be interested in lighting as well. With poor lights we won't see much on the video so the lighting should be really good to make the room bright.

Mostly, we will be using just a flat space on the floor, but we would like to make it in more "dimensions". Some things might go more into height, some things might be flying, some dropping and so on.

As for the Digital part of our project we wants to make it really rich. When our domino hits a computer it stars being really interesting. First of all we decided what OS we are going to use and we decided for Mac OSX. The question you are asking probably is "How are we going to connect the 'real world' domino with computer"? The answer is Arduino. We are going to use mostly sensors. Light sensors and relay switches.

Internet, software and pages we wants to involve:

• Our website
• BBC
• Facebook
• Google
• Ebay
• Youtube
• Read it
• Email
• Processing
• Flash

Google:

Google is considered to be the most well-known website on the internet. It works as an internet search engine. We intend to use it for what it is meant to be used for. That means searching. It could be connect with other pages we want to use in a way of searching them...

Youtube:

Youtube is the biggest website with videos. It's meant to work as a place where people are able to upload their videos and comment and rate other videos. Basically it is just a huge database of videos. We intend to play some specific videos on this site.

Email:

The oldest and still massively used form of digital communication. Everybody should know it. It's pointless to describe what it is for and how it works. We want to use arduino and processing to send some emails and that could activate another arduino and switch something on. It might also have some influence on the user, ask them some questions and depending on their answer it would choose from a variety of continuation of our real-world/virtual domino.

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site. It is used to communicate with friends and family across the globe. People create events, upload photos, create groups, play games and find out what’s going on in your friends day to day lives.

Ebay

Ebay is a site used to sell goods across the internet. User sign up to an account and then they have the ability to buy and sell items. The website is set up as an auction website where people bid on items and the highest bit wins. It also provides a buy it now option, which is down to the seller whether or not they want to use this. On Ebay you can buy anything from toys to cars.

Reddit

Reddit is a website used to upload everyday news stories, that wouldn’t normally make the news. People can upload videos, photos and text. Depending on what other user thought about the story is depending on how many votes the story gets. The more votes the stories get the higher up the rating they moves, the most popular one are on the homepage. Reddit also gives people the chance to comment on the stories and express their options.

BBC

The BBC website is a portal to services and websites available from the BBC, which includes:
1. News/Weather/Sports
2. iPlayer/TV
3. Radio

Visitors can change the main page around so that the subject matter that is the most interesting to them is viewed at the top, while anything that they aren't interested in can be removed from the page altogether. Visitors can also go from the main page to other pages such as iPlayer OR go directly to the site they are interesting in by typing in the right directory.

The BBC site has tons of up to date information, and with the user interactivity the site allows makes it a good site to use for our "Waterfall" effect.

Yahoo

What it is? Yahoo provides a web search service along with other Yahoo services including:
1. Dating
2. Maps
3. Games
4. Mail

Visitors can either use the home page to search the internet for anything of interest, or use one of the services that Yahoo provides by clicking the links down the left hand side of the web page.

With the services that Yahoo provides (stuff like dating and chatrooms) the page has a wealth of information and stuff people can get involved with, making the site very popular.

Processing

Processing is a programming language and development environment used within Digital Art to make artistic representations with code. Users can use things like RSS feeds to feed data into their programs, which in turn can change certain aspects of their visual design.

Users code into a "Sketch" using similar scripting styles as Javascript and ActionScript, following the style shown in the screenshot.

Processing is a very interesting program to work with, being that it can be used with arduino fairly easily. With easy configuration, sketches can be developed and implemented into websites for greater interaction.

Academic Research

MIT Technology Review on Arduino

As electronic devices got more complicated in the past few decades, it became increasingly difficult and expensive to tinker with hardware. The 1970s garage engineers who built their own computers gave way to geeks who programmed their own software. But now the rise of open-source hardware is paving the way for a return of build-it-yourself electronics. Creators can start with devices such as the Arduino, an inexpensive control board that’s easy to program and can hook up to a wide variety of hardware. People can create projects that range from blinking light shows to more sophisticated efforts such as robotics. The Arduino started with designers in Italy, who license the boards to manufacturers and distributors that sell official versions for less than $50. The Arduino designers freely share the specifications for anyone to use, however, and third-party manufacturers all over the world offer versions of their own, sometimes optimized for specific purposes.

http://arduino.cc/blog/


Rube Goldberg Machine

Rube Goldberg's cartoons became well known for depicting complex devices that performed simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. An example on the right, is Goldberg's "Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin", which was later reprinted in the postcard book, Rube Goldberg's Inventions!, compiled by Maynard Frank Wolfe from the Rube Goldberg Archives. The "Self-Operating Napkin" is activated when the soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C) which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and lights automatic cigar lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K) which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M) and allow pendulum with attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.

In 1931, the Merriam–Webster dictionary adopted the word "Rube Goldberg" as an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complex means

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine