Tar and Feather Gun

Going through my sketchbooks, I found plans for something truly dastardly (and potentially hilarious)!

My Triumphs, My Mistakes

Time to face facts. Well, really facts were faced days or weeks ago but for the sake of this blogpost, let's pretend like I'm facing facts today. Last weekend I finally broke down and told my friend, for whom I'm making the 5x5 box, that I was making it, failing at making it and that he wouldn't be getting it for his wedding. That took some weight off of me, especially because now I can share this blog and talk to other people about this no longer secret project.

Last weekend I made a big push. I went looking for supplies and I made do with what I could find. I salvaged some wire from old Ghost Patrol projects, which wasn't ideal to begin with, and I soldered that to the LCD I had to the pins I thought I'd need. I went down to The Shack and looked for header pins but they didn't even know what I was talking about. I also looked for some 5.7 ohm resistors so I could run the LCD backlight. I didn't know enough about resistors to find what I was looking for and neither did the sales people there. You know, it rarely occurs to me to use my phone to Google useful information in the moment. Anyway, the only thing I did find that I needed was a 10k potentiometer. Then I headed to the art supply store to look for an acceptable box or box substitute. I figured that I could at least find something acceptable to prototype on. I ended up buying a wooden box frame that people apparently use to paint. We used them to make the Ouija boards for Ghost Patrol and they worked great.

Here's what happened: I did some awful, awful soldering on the LCD. I used a super crappy Dremel rip off to try to drill and cut appropriate size holes in my wood box. It didn't work. I made one hole too close to the edge. I wrecked tons of bits on that awful machine and finally pretty much wrecked the machine itself. Wrong tool for the job. No doubt. I couldn't get the LCD to work at all. Not at all.

Here's what I learned: First, I remembered that power tools can be rented from the Berkeley Public Library. I could be using the right tools for the job. I also realized that if I wanted to really make this work, I had to go about it properly from the very beginning.

I went on SparkFun and ordered two new LCDs (I plan to make more boxes so...) and some header pins. I soldered the header pins to the LCDs. I also ordered some small breadboards but they only have 17 pins and the LCDs have 16 so I'll have to use them for something else as I'd really like to have the LCD, the potentiometer and the Polulu all on the same breadboard. Today I had my first modicum of success. I mounted one of my pinned up LCDs to the breadboard, used the tutorial I posted previously and voila, text!

I'm totally stoked just to have this minor success. I've ordered a beautiful wood box from a seller on Etsy and it should be here on Tuesday. I've devised, in my mind, an awesome self-latching system that requires no electrical bits to operate and can be opened just by sliding a credit card between the lid and the box. If I can make that work, that'll be super cool.

So I'm definitely going to keep working on this project until it reaches fruition. I had just about given up but now I have confidence I can eventually accomplish this and move on to another cool puzzle/project box idea.

You're Gonna Need This...

http://sites.google.com/site/mechatronicsguy/arduinocheatsheet

Okay, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog. The reason? Almost nothing interesting has happened in the world of me making things. I recently took up the Ukulele and that has been filling all of my creative outlet hours. But the problem is that I've made very little progress on the 5x5 Box. I tried to get the LCD display going a few weekends ago, to no avail. I am buying a proper box this week and hope to cut/drill all the hole I'll need in it on Saturday. Sunday will be a day filled with curses. Sunday I will try to get the box in as near of working order as possible. In order to do this, I am having to open myself up to the idea of de-scoping and re-scoping some of my ideas.

For instance:

• If I can't get the LCD to display properly, I may need to consider finding a way to use turning LEDs on and off the provide feedback.
• If I can't get the Arduino sketch I've worked on to create random sets, I may need to just program a set.
• If I can't get the Polulu to work, I may need to just put in an On/Off switch.
• If I can't get the servo idea to work, I may need to just find a way to tell the user how to open a combination lock or something, to retrieve their prize.
• If I can't get my sketch to work the way I want it to, I may need to create a puzzle to overlay on or include with the box. (That, actually, is a really good idea for a future puzzle box. It could have an overlay with an input on it. The input would tell the Arduino what sketch to run. Different overlays could run different sketches? I'll have to think on this more.)

So there are lots of options I'm willing to explore to deliver something that at least looks cool. I know that I won't be so willing to let go, though. If this doesn't work out exactly as I'd like, I could easily see a Mark 2 model coming in the future.

Life Has A Funny Way Of Making Me Look Like A Chump

So, following my little parts rant yesterday regarding how long it takes for parts to be delivered from Hong Kong, I went to the SparkFun website to order another USB cable so I could at least program my Arduino. While I was there I decided to order a Polulu switch (a device the will allow my box to power itself down between uses) and the servo needed to dispense the gift card through the front of the box.

While there I decided that I might as well accept the fact that the parts I'd ordered from SeeedStudio Depot might never arrive and it might behoove me to go ahead and order more buttons as well. Sure, they wouldn't be the shiny silver buttons I'd originally wanted but they'd be buttons. SparkFun had an assortment of colored plastic buttons of the same size and shape I'd wanted. They had six colors and I ordered one of each color, thinking that the red button would turn the box on and the other buttons would be multi-colored and fun looking. Unfortunately, they'd also make Jenn and Brian think a color puzzle of some kind was involved. Hmmm... not ideal but whatever.

Anyway, I ordered all of these parts which did assuage some of the panic of a project missing its deadline, even though I hadn't set any benchmarks or deadlines. This morning, upon returning from brunch with Rachel and her cousin, Elena, I found a little box on my porch... from Hong Kong! Yay! On one hand, I feel like a chump for ordering those extra buttons yesterday. On the other hand, I'm super stoked to have the shiny buttons I'd imagined for the project. It's also great that I've now ordered all of the main components of the project and can begin prototyping on a breadboard. I'll also be able to use the colored buttons for another project (maybe some kind of Mastermind box!) and can even use the red botton as the power button for this project, if I choose. I don't think I will, though. I want this box to look super sophisticated and a plastic red button doesn't speak to that ideal.

I'm totally stoked and can't wait to get started on the hard work of this project!

Soft Hardware - LilyPad Arduino

When I was initially becoming interested in creating with Arduino, one of the main obstacles for my mind to get motivated was being able to convince myself that I could overcome a complete lack of technical knowledge in regards to circuits and electronics. I was fairly sure I could write some cool code but wasn't sure I'd know what wire to solder to which contact and how to run power through the whole shebang. It turned out that Arduino makes that part as easy as possible too, and isn't nearly as daunting as it seems at first glance.

Reading up on Arduino, I repeatedly came across references to LilyPad Arduino and soft circuitry. I'd tried a soft circuitry project before but I gave up pretty quickly, more due to a lack of continued interest than anything else.

This was my first project:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34063023

I'd made LED throwies for a number of purposes from lighting up my bicycle to lighting up jack-o-lanterns. Making a simple bracelet seemed like a nice next step and it was, sort of. And it would have worked, in theory, if I'd finished it, which I didn't.

What appeals to me about LilyPad, other than the wear-ability of the projects was the modular design of the components. Sure, you could wire all kinds of sensors and outputs to the adorable LilyPad but you could also just stick to the sensors and outputs designed to go with the board (It's not really a board, per se. It's a felt pad.).

My mind thrills at the potential for projects using these items. Just check out all of the LilyPad stuff available from SparkFun:
LilyPad Arduino on SparkFun

Also check out these links:
LilyPad specs (pretty much the same as Duemilanove or other Arduinos)

Leah Buechley is the creator of LilyPad and just watching a video of one of her projects totally lit a fire under my brain:
Turn Signal Bike Jacket

As someone who really loves riding his bike but is definitely concerned that a human operating a large machine might accidentally (or intentionally!) harm me, this project appealed to me. But one thought led to another and in no time I was envisioning everything from Iron Man Halloween costumes to totally creepily interactive plush dolls. How cool would it be to gut a teddy bear from the store and turn it into a vocalizing, flashing red-eyed, buzzing and shaking, twitter-activated monstrosity? Answer: Very Cool.

Troubleshooting, Problem Solving, Thinking Out Loud

I've been a little disappointed in myself. I'd intended this blog to be a lot more active than it has been so far. I was thinking to myself, "I just haven't had any ideas or thoughts or updates worth posting," which isn't entirely true.

I've been devoting as much brainpower as I can muster to working on the Arduino coding for the 5x5 box. I think I've worked out ways around most of my problems, which are numerous:

• One problem I've been trying to work out is how to get the system to assign a random number value from 1-5 to each of the buttons as an indicator of a correct press. That is to say, how do I tell the system that I want it to track the order the buttons are pressed and that I want it to determine if that order is correct and that I want that order to be different each time the game is played. I think I've worked my way around this problem. I can't decide if posting a block of Arduino code here is at all interesting to anyone, especially pulled from the larger block of code, thereby losing some context. Basically, what I decided to do was to have the code generate a random number from 1-5 for each variable that I am referring to as "random1-5". Then I've told the code to check that each "random" variable was unique to itself, not having a matching number assigned to another "random". If at least two of the "random"s match, I've told the system to try again. This could work really well or it could have the little microprocessor generating random numbers until it becomes self-aware and really pissed off at my messy coding. I think that what I really need to do is to have it generate a random value for the first "random", generate a random value for the second "random", compare the two and, if they match, have the system try again before moving on. That way it is not asked to generate a whole set of random values that don't match each other by sheer dumb luck.
• Another problem I'm having is being completely unable to test any of my code on my actual Arduino or any kind of a breadboard rigged prototype. I hate waiting for parts in the mail. Honestly, I have just about all of the parts I need to rig this all up (not the parts I'd want to use in the final product but they'll work) except the USB cable I need to upload the Arduino code to the Arduino board. Frustrating. Note to future self: Seeedstudio is in China. Ordering parts from China takes a long time. I'm itching to post a parts list but I haven't even ordered all of the parts! I'd better get moving on that.

Really, not having the USB cable is my main problem because it keeps me from identifying defects in the system, be they soft or hardware related. I won't know until I tinker and I can't tinker effectively until I get that cable. With my luck lately, it will be delivered and left on my porch and immediately stolen by neighborhood kids (or adults or a kleptomaniac squirrel or a tiny black hole or something). I bet it's something I can by from the Radio Shack down the street and all my waiting for a $2.50 cable is probably not worth my time.