screen recording software

As you get simple setups to work it is important that you start to document the results. The easiest way is by using a screen recorder to capture what is happening. A useful and free one is

Jing

Smooth Value from distance sensor

If you are using on of the Sharp distance sensors and are getting values that jump around there are 2 things you can do to smooth them out:

1: make sure you are running them from 5V

2: connect a 10uf capacitor between the positive and negative of the sensor.

You can get them at Maplin for £0.12.

LINK

Part num: VH06G or VH07H


If it is still not stable enough - it can also be smoothed in the software.

Vista - security fix

I finally had a chance to test this on a computer running Vista today and... It works.

This will correct the problem of "mel is not a registered protocol"

-Download the file from the link below
LINK
-double-click the file registerMel.reg
-say OK to all the security warnings

Then restart firefox- and follow the directions

HERE

Sensor Resources

Unfortunately, sensors tend to be a bit more expensive in England than other places, but they are at least quite easy to get.
One very comprehensive website is: Active Robots
It is the easiest to utilize when you are trying out new sensors as you can get them quite quickly.

The website doesn't link to specific products, but i can give you the page/model numbers.


Here are a few to get you started, but if you are looking for something in particular, just post it.

Distance Sensors: gives the distance to an object within a set range.

LINK


Sharp GP2D12 - measures between 10 - 80 cm £9.99
Sharp GP2D120 - measures between 4 -30 cm £9.99



Touch / Bending / Force
LINK

These sensors either measure the amount of bending or the position of your finger (or an object) along a strip or the amount of force being applied to it.

bending



Flex Sensor 4.5" £8.81
measure the amount of bend on the sensor.




Force Sensor: measures the amount of pressure applied to the end
£11.39





linear potentiometer - returns the position along its length
£8.87 - £17.63 depending on length



rotary potentiometer - measures position around the circle (basically an IPOD touch wheel) £10.05

LINE TRACKER - reads the darkness/lightness of the colour below it to tell you which side of a line you are on. Can be used to input drawings as control mechnisms. LINK



Single Line Detector - £11.00


Triple Line Detector - £18.50

power supplies

As you add more sensors, you may run into the problem of getting the error

"USB OVERCURRENT" This is because if you are powering the sensors from your USB port and it doensnt's allow very much current before throwing up the warning.

The fix is quite simple though: add an external power supply.

Anything between 5-9V should work.

You can get them at Maplin for about £19 LINK

Or you can order one from farnell for about £5 LINK
(I prefer the cheaper one, and the shipping is free and generally is next day)

Session 3

As I mentioned last time, during tomorrow's session we will begin to work with sensors to control splines. The goal is that you develop an interface that can effectively control the splines and the resulting surfaces/forms.

This will serve as the first formal assignment for the course and it is important that you bring materials with you to work in class.

As a general rule each team should have the following so you don't waste too much time:

-sensors (there are a HUGE range of possibilities and I'll post a list of links), can be anything to start with, but just have something.

If you don't have a clear idea what to use yet, I would suggest either starting with a few:

10K Lin miniature potentiometers £0.76: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2203
Code:JM71N


or



10K Lin Standard Potentiometers £1.32: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2205
Code: FW02C






Or you could use an LDR (light sensor)

LDR £1.39: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35963
you will also need a 100k resistor per ldr: £0.15: M100k



or
10K slide potentiometer £ 0.69: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2215
Code: JM85G



Whatever you choose, please be sure to get at least 3-4 because you will need the multiple inputs.


-Basic Materials

1. Solid Core Wire: Available at Maplin, labelled "Bell Wire". don't get stranded/braided wire because its a huge pain to use with the arduino/breadboard.

2. Wire cutters

3. Automatic Wire strippers. Not absolutely necessary, but they make your life much easier.
also from Maplin: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45237

Security Setup for browser

Hi everyone, below are the steps to take to set up your browser to feed maya the data. Sorry I didn't get it all sorted last time, but the way firefox 3.0 handles it is a bit different.

The basic steps are:

1. Open Maya
2. Ensure that you have the browser plugin installed for firefox:
Look in C:/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/plugins

there should be a plugin in this folder called: npmcpplugin.dll

If not copy to the folder from:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2009\ExternalWebBrowser\Windows
then close firefox and reopen it.

3. Open the webpage from THIS LINK



This will bring up a "Maya Security Dialog" Box





A "polySphere" should be created in Maya



Note:
Sometimes (especially if you are on Vista) you will get the error:
mel is not a registered protocol

If you have this problem, don't worry, it can be sorted through the registry. (ie. we'll fix it in class)

First Files

Hi everyone,

HERE are the basic connector/example files I went over last session. As i mentioned, we will be starting work tomorrow during class, so it is important that you have figured out who you are working with and that you bring some basic materials.

see you tomorrow