Group 068-07 Haunted Painting

5/23/18 This week we need to finalize the set-up of the smaller background bears, as well as finalizing the circuitry for the lights and audio. The audio is proving difficult because while we have all needed parts, there has not been a useful source to provide us with the information to set up the circuit. Today we worked on the pulley system for the main bear as well as getting the motion of the small bears working. The pulley system includes a stepper motor, a pulley, and a string attached to the bears head as seen below. The small bears may be replaced by something lighter, like a cloth to look like a ghost, because the DC motors are not powerful enough to wave the stuffed animals back and forth. 5/29/18 Today, we finalized the moving aspect of the bear arms. Using two servo motors (Tower Hobbies Sytem 3000, STD TS-53) and chopsticks, we attached the motors directly to the bear and were able to make them move up and down. 

5/16/18 We worked more on the PIR Sensor today. Namely, we tested to figure out which pin was the one associated with sensitivity. We set up a simple circuit with an LED to test this until we found which orange pin on the sensor was to change time and which was to change sensitivity. The stepper motor was also nailed down today. This will be used to spring the bear up from out of hiding. The next two pictures show the breadboard and Arduino Uno board layouts. The bottom left picture shows the stepper motor at its "resting" position, and the bottom right shows the "activated" position.  While this setup worked well with the wood plank, when the weight of the bear was added to it, the motor did not have enough power to push the bear up off of the ground. We have been weighing our options on how to proceed: Use the smaller, lighter bears on the stepper motor setup Use two stepper motors to try to increase the power Use a new overhead pulley system (

5/9/18 In class today, Mia painted the exposed wood black to match the fabric. Stuti and Casey determined that we had been using the wrong motor (the DC) and should have been using servo motors instead. They checked them out from the co-op office (Tower Hobbies System 3000, STD TS-53). These motors will allow the arms to move back and forth at a slower pace than the DC motors were allowing. With the servo motors, the arms can be coded to move from 0 degrees (down at the bear's sides) to 90 degrees (straight out in front of the bear). Stuti found code online that works well with the chopsticks for inside the bear. The DC motors can be used most likely for the smaller bears in the back of the box. With the contraption in mind (see below picture - the center drawing), the DC motors spinning continuously will be the best option to make the small bears sway back and forth constantly. The center picture represents one of the two background bears in the box. The bottom c

5/2/18 This week we are going to focus on getting all of the mechanical parts working. Specifically, getting the larger bear to spring up, the smaller bears to move in the background, and the lights and audio.  Today, Mia attached the fabric to the box to make it look like a "theater," as shown below. The fabric that we bought can be found at this link:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008TLJZXK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Vicki, Zarraf, and Casey began work on the large bear. They soldered and connected wires to the stepper motors to hopefully give the large bear enough power to spring from supine to standing up.  Stuti continued to work on the arms of the large bear with the DC motors and the Arduino Uno/ Ardumoto combination. Motor A in this setup was not working with the code, so tomorrow Stuti and Mia will meet to figure this out. Notes: According to Arjun, put the motion sensor in the 3.3V outlet in the Arduino Uno board.

4/25/18 The build team (Zarraf, Casey, and Vicki) finished the frame of our box! Mia is going to purchase fabric to cover the sides to look like a "puppet show" and cardboard or plywood for the bottom. The build team also made a platform to stand the smaller bears in the background to draw attention away from the bottom of the structure where the larger bear is laying down ready to spring up. Stuti and Mia continued to work with the motor setup and code. Dr. Terranova suggested a Ardumoto shield to include on the top of the Arduino Uno in order to bypass the need for lots of transistors, diodes, and resistors. After tinkering with the Ardumoto, we were able to use a code found on the internet to make the motors move and reverse directions at different speed. 4/27/18 Stuti and Mia met again today to finalize the code to make the largest bear's arms move up and down.  We attached chopsticks to each of the gears on the motors to insert into the bear's arms to

4/18/18 Today, we started constructing some of the basic components of our design. Mia and Stuti began to design the electronics, working with the Arduino Uno and a breadboard and LEDs to learn the basics before diving into the large project components. They successfully made an LED blink on and off.  Casey, Zarraf, and Vicki began to construct the box that will serve as the base for the bears to sit and pop out of. Using scrap wood already in the labs, the team began to assemble a box, but with planks instead of plywood. The wood was prone to splitting, so the team had to be very careful when drilling. 4/20/18 Mia and Stuti met today to learn how to make the Arduino and breadboard combination to power the DC motors that the Innovation Studio provided us with. With the help of the internet, they found a breadboard setup that powered the motor, but were unable to specify the speed that the motor would spin. However, after some help from Mia's br

4/9/18 Before class, we met to discuss everyone's role in the project and go over our design idea again. Attached below is a description of how the work will be divided among the group.  4/11/18 In class, Dr. Terranova explained that our initial design would be difficult to make move quickly in order to produce a sufficient scare, so we have reworked our design idea. Instead of a track-like design that the bear would roll forward on, we have decided to imitate a Jack-in-the-Box. The bear will instead be hidden from view (laying down) and then when the motion sensor is activated, it will pop up and hopefully frighten the guests. Additionally, we ironed out some dimensions and a materials list in terms of what we need to buy and what we have in the Innovation Studio. Arduino seems to be our best bet as of now, so some of the team researched tutorials and other information about coding and what kind of motors and electrical equipment we will need. 4/13/18 Today, we decided on