In the last week, great developments have taken place.
1st - The Bicycle. Very few parts are now missing to complete its construction. I am pretty stubborn and the choice I made was to build it from scratch. Piece to piece... Of course, in the end it's a much more expensive bike than it could be, but it is the bike I chose to make. I just need a deraileur, pedals and a saddle. Brake calipers are ordered and should be here by the end of next week. This means that in a couple of weeks it will be ready to ride. I'll spend the weekend assembling the bottom braket and crank. Sunday, I'll get the deraileur and possibly pedals. This means that by monday it will be a moving bike... However, it wont brake yet...
2nd - Electronics. All parts for the bike rigging are either ordered or already in my posetion. Most of the PCBs are made and tested but there are some to be made still. Mostly, what needs to be done is the inter connection of all parts and its assembly to the arduino. Thumbs up!
3rd - Wireless. It was a long frustrating strive to find how to make the XBees work together. Not only that in a simple way, but very specifically: a) making it transmit all the signals desired; b) getting the signals straight into pure data. However, I'm still not too shure about it fully working, whitch still requires some testing. This will take place very soon. One of the question marks I still have wondering around my head is about the transmition of all analog signal.
4th - Pure Data. The patch is pretty simple so far. I'm using FM8 to make notes from the patch. The development of this will be done when the electronics are fully functional and stable. Some things will probably be worked in the meanwhile to test the electronics.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
A little board
After testing the push buttons on the breadboard and making sure that everything was in order, I decided to make a small PCB with the whole circuit.
Designed it in Adobe Illustrator. The reason is that I don't really get anything from EAGLE and also couldn't find the buttons to make the layout!
So, with a bit of old school technique (a ruler) I made it work.
Here it is!
Designed it in Adobe Illustrator. The reason is that I don't really get anything from EAGLE and also couldn't find the buttons to make the layout!
So, with a bit of old school technique (a ruler) I made it work.
Here it is!
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Getting stuff together
I think that I'm at the point where I can start doing more with the results I've got. A good reason is that I think that I can't get any further with both the electronics and the programming to sort out the fine issues that I still have. These issues, as far as I can say, are latency and the fact that despite all my ignorant efforts to damp the signal from the piezo transducer in order to get only one signal spike, I'm still getting more than one.
Putting this aside, I got some pushbuttons from a scrap board that I found in the London Hack Space. I desoldered then and am using these recycled buttons to prototype.
So, being more specific, the buttons only have a 2.2kohm resistor between output and circuit ground. The piezo however, has a 5.1v Zener diode, two Schottky diodes (bat85), and an RC (1M.4n7).
In pure data I switch to input the pins where the buttons are connected and to analog the piezo input.
To start simple, you can straight away look at the values coming out when you tap the piezo or push the buttons.
In this case I have the patch in a more advanced state, so I'm using the buttons to change the notes given by the piezo.
Also, yesterday I made the polystyrene bases for the pads on the handlebar of the bike. However, I had forgotten that planned on bedding the pad cases to attenuate more of the bike's input to the e piezos. This means that I have a gap between the pads and the case and therefore will be forced to make the bedding anyway. It is a bit annoying from the point of view of testing, but in the end the results are going to be much better.
I'm mounting this on a breadboard, but the intention is to make a PCB when the testing stage ends. This will make it much more reliable, small and easy to fit on the bike as I can design the PCB however I want and feel appropriate for its function.
Putting this aside, I got some pushbuttons from a scrap board that I found in the London Hack Space. I desoldered then and am using these recycled buttons to prototype.
I
In the end, what I'm doing now is having the piezo and 2 buttons connected to the arduino being read by pure data outputting to FM8. Just to test! And it works!
So, being more specific, the buttons only have a 2.2kohm resistor between output and circuit ground. The piezo however, has a 5.1v Zener diode, two Schottky diodes (bat85), and an RC (1M.4n7).
In pure data I switch to input the pins where the buttons are connected and to analog the piezo input.
To start simple, you can straight away look at the values coming out when you tap the piezo or push the buttons.
In this case I have the patch in a more advanced state, so I'm using the buttons to change the notes given by the piezo.
Also, yesterday I made the polystyrene bases for the pads on the handlebar of the bike. However, I had forgotten that planned on bedding the pad cases to attenuate more of the bike's input to the e piezos. This means that I have a gap between the pads and the case and therefore will be forced to make the bedding anyway. It is a bit annoying from the point of view of testing, but in the end the results are going to be much better.
I'm mounting this on a breadboard, but the intention is to make a PCB when the testing stage ends. This will make it much more reliable, small and easy to fit on the bike as I can design the PCB however I want and feel appropriate for its function.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Great results in the remake of the Pure Data patch for "When the Doorbell Rings".
Pretty good results for the update of the patch as it became much more user friendly.
Also, included a README to the folder so there is a set of instructions for anyone to follow.
As convenient, all the hardware was operational.
The display was already tested in the spacing camera and it proves efficient.
The patch was tested without the arduino connected.
As it is aimed for the piece to be a stand alone artwork without the need of extra dependencies, the system is going to migrate to a raspberry pi running linux.
Pure Data runs on linux, so the r-pi will deal with all the processing needed for video and audio.
In a few words: this piece get to have its own computer.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Rework to python
Last Saturday I met again with Ricardo Amaro in very fruitfull afternoon towards the making of Cycle Sound.
We spent a lot of time installing libraries and modules and stuff... It pretty time consuming. Anyways, the point being trying to migrate part of the project to python. The language is easier and there is a greater array of possibilities with it than with the Arduino software. Mostly because with the Arduino software we can only work within the Arduino. With python we can work/communicate with Arduino along with being able to control other softwares and/or platforms.
So, towards the programming of Cycle Sound, we got hold of controlling parameters given by Arduino. We are still working our way around the piezoelectric as a sensor. I think we made quite a good progress, however it made me realise that the problems, or most of the problems we are having with the piezoelectric are not from the software domain but rather from the hardware. Electronics!
The information available online of how to go around piezoelectric issues when connecting it to an Arduino is very scarce and hard to find. However I found a great article on it which hopefully is going to get me through the main problem.
The problem is the signal peaks given by the piezoelectric. The point is to make the piezo a clean single "bang" signal containing a value that is to be transformed into midi velocity. There is nothing (or probably not much, very complex and not very effective) that software can do to go around this. So it comes down to a simple small circuit between the output of the piezo and the input of the Arduino. A couple of diodes and an RC are meant to do the job. I haven't fully tested this as I'm still waiting for one of the diodes to be delivered but I have quite high expectations, I must confess.
If the result proves effective, I will be confirming it over here. I will give the different possibilities that I tested and report the best results. I don't have an oscilloscope or anything to measure the signal in a controlled manner, but in the end, it's the results on the project that I'm interested in.
If it all works according to expectation, this is a great step towards any kind of drum machine with a great controll level and sensitivity.
Looking forward to the results!!!
We spent a lot of time installing libraries and modules and stuff... It pretty time consuming. Anyways, the point being trying to migrate part of the project to python. The language is easier and there is a greater array of possibilities with it than with the Arduino software. Mostly because with the Arduino software we can only work within the Arduino. With python we can work/communicate with Arduino along with being able to control other softwares and/or platforms.
So, towards the programming of Cycle Sound, we got hold of controlling parameters given by Arduino. We are still working our way around the piezoelectric as a sensor. I think we made quite a good progress, however it made me realise that the problems, or most of the problems we are having with the piezoelectric are not from the software domain but rather from the hardware. Electronics!
The information available online of how to go around piezoelectric issues when connecting it to an Arduino is very scarce and hard to find. However I found a great article on it which hopefully is going to get me through the main problem.
The problem is the signal peaks given by the piezoelectric. The point is to make the piezo a clean single "bang" signal containing a value that is to be transformed into midi velocity. There is nothing (or probably not much, very complex and not very effective) that software can do to go around this. So it comes down to a simple small circuit between the output of the piezo and the input of the Arduino. A couple of diodes and an RC are meant to do the job. I haven't fully tested this as I'm still waiting for one of the diodes to be delivered but I have quite high expectations, I must confess.
If the result proves effective, I will be confirming it over here. I will give the different possibilities that I tested and report the best results. I don't have an oscilloscope or anything to measure the signal in a controlled manner, but in the end, it's the results on the project that I'm interested in.
If it all works according to expectation, this is a great step towards any kind of drum machine with a great controll level and sensitivity.
Looking forward to the results!!!
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Cycle Sound dataflow diagram
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Proceeding with Cycle Sound
Last Saturday I went to Canary Wharf (aka Death Star) to meet with Ricardo Amaro. For what I though would be an up-to-three-hours meeting to get some things sorted, it actually extended to be a 10h attempt to get things going.
There were mainly two problems going on:
1st - the communication between the XBees ('modems');
2nd - the trim/threshold of the pulses from the piezo component.
For as much as I care to think and hope is that the issue with the XBees is sorted. However, we weren't able to confirm as there are other aspects that need to ready for that to happen.
As for the programming, the problems seemed to extend further.
To start with, we kind of gave up on using the pduino testing patch for pure data to start one from scratch. Along with that the arduino software came as an extension. This means that both arduino coding and patching in pure data are new built. This opens more possibilities and control over the desired elements. But also, it takes more time to build. Specially if your understanding of both languages is limited!
To sum up there's was the need to start from zero but we ended up with some good progress.
There were mainly two problems going on:
1st - the communication between the XBees ('modems');
2nd - the trim/threshold of the pulses from the piezo component.
For as much as I care to think and hope is that the issue with the XBees is sorted. However, we weren't able to confirm as there are other aspects that need to ready for that to happen.
As for the programming, the problems seemed to extend further.
To start with, we kind of gave up on using the pduino testing patch for pure data to start one from scratch. Along with that the arduino software came as an extension. This means that both arduino coding and patching in pure data are new built. This opens more possibilities and control over the desired elements. But also, it takes more time to build. Specially if your understanding of both languages is limited!
To sum up there's was the need to start from zero but we ended up with some good progress.
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Loading Memories
It came to me, not so long ago, the continuous annoyance of something that puts contemporary life in a specific perspective. The annoyance of waiting for an online video to load.
I believe this state of irritation is a extremely spoiled attitude. As we look profoundly at ourselves as human beings and then the acheivement of recording the video and sound in the first place, getting it online in something called the Internet and being able to play that anywhere in the world with a device as small as a telephone, being annoyed at the fact that the video is not loading as fast as I instantly want it to is being picky.
Anyway, being picky I get pretty annoyed with that wait. But what just kills me is when a video stops in the middle of the play to load. Maybe it will continue playing maybe it won't. That you will never know. However, that expectation makes you look at the frame where it stopped. That frame has now been recorded in your memory somehow more than the rest of the video.
There is however a common thread to these recorded images: a circle. The so common loading circle in the centre of the frame.
From this conclusion I decided to collect these still images and work with them.
The principle of this project lies in collecting circular images from within the loading circles in a still frame from an online video.
I believe this state of irritation is a extremely spoiled attitude. As we look profoundly at ourselves as human beings and then the acheivement of recording the video and sound in the first place, getting it online in something called the Internet and being able to play that anywhere in the world with a device as small as a telephone, being annoyed at the fact that the video is not loading as fast as I instantly want it to is being picky.
Anyway, being picky I get pretty annoyed with that wait. But what just kills me is when a video stops in the middle of the play to load. Maybe it will continue playing maybe it won't. That you will never know. However, that expectation makes you look at the frame where it stopped. That frame has now been recorded in your memory somehow more than the rest of the video.
There is however a common thread to these recorded images: a circle. The so common loading circle in the centre of the frame.
From this conclusion I decided to collect these still images and work with them.
The principle of this project lies in collecting circular images from within the loading circles in a still frame from an online video.
24h Design Challenge
On the past 10th of August the furniture design studio Hendzel+Hunt opened their doors to the 2012 edition of the 24h Design Challenge.
As it is their tradition the challenge was keen in upcycling and enginiosity
This year's challenge was to build a pinball machine. Truly mechanical and all from pre-used materials.
Every team had a theme. My team's theme was King Kong.
HH 30' Trailer from Jan Hendzel on Vimeo.
As it is their tradition the challenge was keen in upcycling and enginiosity
This year's challenge was to build a pinball machine. Truly mechanical and all from pre-used materials.
Every team had a theme. My team's theme was King Kong.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
From the 'World Anthem' on
The 'World Anthem' piece sourced another project that is ongoing.
This is 'Sound Textures'. In this project, each piece plays a sound based on the texture of a place that has a story of my past linked to it.
This is 'Sound Textures'. In this project, each piece plays a sound based on the texture of a place that has a story of my past linked to it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
