Cheap CNC!

Want one of these...

Keypad...

Working on getting my adafruit Trellis to do somthing like this...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Access-control-with-Arduino-Keypad-4x4-Servo/?ALLSTEPS

Moire Patterns...

While researching Moire patterns I came across a few really interesting specimens.

Pinterest.

So I officially won the eBay auction for the tansu box! Hazah! Now I have to age it back on the outside and build all new drawers for the inside... You can take a look at this Pinterest board that I made to see the feel/mood/style I am going for when the box is done:

http://www.pinterest.com/papatiki/mystery-box/

For my midterm I may try to finish a proof of concept box to prove the servo works, but we will see...

The box begins to take shape...

A few neat tricks to use for my box...

 

An arduino powered infinity mirror...

I am also trying to figure out how to create the Japanese Makyoh Magic Mirror Effect. These sources discuss possible methods...

http://complex.gmu.edu/www-phys/phys262/soln/magic_mirror_phy_ed_2001.pdf

http://met.sdsmt.edu/reu/2012/2/2.Report/Final%20Report.pdf

http://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/13367/Investigation%20of%20surface%20%26%20sub-surface%20profile,%20techniques%20of%20measurement%20and%20replication%20of%20the%20chinese%20magic%20mirror.pdf?sequence=1

http://theedgeofreality.proboards.com/thread/3918

A Tut on laser etching pigmented metal

http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-etched-Equipment-Nameplates/?ALLSTEPS

And here is the outer box shell that I am attempting to get. The inside drawers will be modified and little secrets will be scattered through-out to enhance the reverse geo-cache effect.

Also some hardware I am considering.

 

   

 

Inlays and UV

Some neat surface effects for my box. First the metal inlay I mentioned previously including some tips and tutorials...

http://www.engraverscafe.com/showthread.php?12350-Incrustation-quot-line-quot-metal-in-wood-by-Evgeni




http://www.davidpriceflintlocks.com/id30.html


http://www.davidpriceflintlocks.com/id32.html


And then some neat things with simple gears, and UV paint...

http://deron.meranda.us/create/coraline-box/
 

 

 

I think I would use the UV paint for a secret message or to create a map like this one...

Fantastic Wooden Gears

A bunch of wooden gear sets, including laser cut gears and a gear generator!

This online gear generator could be just the ticket for making some wood gears for my box...

http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html

Illusions, Tricks and Gadgets oh-my!

Some neat illusions, tricks and gadgets that might help in the riddles of the box...

Deciphering codes...

Ice!

Fire!

Cool Indiana Jones Style Magic Mirror effect

Cool Indiana Jones style sand thing




magnets for a magnetic lock

and some unusually powered motors

Also a couple of boxes...

I really like the metal inlay on this one... it's gorgeous, and could be achieved more easily through acid etching.

And here is a nifty little puzzle box that uses tech to support it!

Completely off Topic - Wood Duplicators

combining one of these things with a 3d printer, a 3d scanner, a laser cutter or a cnc machine could create some unbelievable results.

Wood ones first.

And here is one for coins!

Aging and Weathering the Wood

Some handy tips and tricks for making wood look old and distressed... I will be doing this to the outside of the box in an attempt to make it more mysterious.

Vinegar and Steel wool (with tea to increase the tannins), an old trick, but one of my favorites.

Motor Oil... Interesting

Burning Man

Wood abuse & waterslide decals

and finally some cool paint distressing demos

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-faux-paint-antique-distressed-furniture-vi/

PUZZLE BOXES!

Some fantastic puzzle boxes that use a variety of methods to open. All are very unique and inspiring

The similarity of the moving parts makes it easy to get mixed up while solving this one

Some excellent wooden gears here

A whole bunch of puzzle boxes demonstrated

Even more puzzle boxes!

Many more ideas for hidden compartments can be found here:
http://www.stashvault.com/

And finally these Japanese ship chests or Karakuri Tansu are absolutely stunning. I am growing a little obsessed with them. This is essentially what I want to create, but merged with technology.

Here is a website that explains things a little bit more...

http://karakuriya.com/english/chest/shikake.htm

Also, any more boxes can be found here as well...

http://www.pinterest.com/johnptobin/chests-boxes-and-trunks/

Wooden Mechanisms

Some nifty wooden mechanics that I have been researching for possible use in my box. I like the idea of creating something low tech with old world craftsmanship and then enhancing it with high tech elements.

A wooden combination lock

A couple of different views of a secret drawer release

A Magnetic latch trick

Anniversary Lock 

Secret Compartments in a Pennsylvania Spice Box



Steampunk Style Box with working wood gears

Aurthur Ganson's Mechanical Art Machines...

I think that there is something exquisite and beautiful about they kind of things that Arthur Ganson's sculptures do. They are elaborate automatons that do things mechanically that it would be very complex to accomplish if programmed. I think that the merger of this brand of engineering mixed with clever ideas and programs is the sweet spot for the coming of age world of electronic art.

It would be wonderful to make my box or the objects in the box fit together to form some simple machine that is needed to complete the final quest task. Food for thought...

The Pennsylvania Quest Box

After much consideration I will likely be building a modified version of one of these wonderful boxes, known to the woodworking communities as a "Pennsylvania spice box". I like this box form for it's mystery and history. Also... secret compartments!

This will then be made more rugged by stripping away the fancy parts of the outside (dainty feat, molding) adding corner guards, and making the outside appearance look old disheveled. This might be accompanied by an old lock and key or symbols burned into the outer shell.

In contrast inside the door there will be multiple different woods, fancy pants drawer pulls, an inlay on the back of the door and maybe even text. It will look grand and unlikely for something with such a utilitarian outside.

Somewhere there will also be a mounted display and a button that when pressed displays a distance to an unknown destination on the display as well as how many "steps" in that destination. Steps will be used for writing with GPS later on. Once the box is brought to withing a couple hundred feet of the destination, one drawer will be opened by a servo.

This drawer may contain a small part needed to complete a larger puzzle at the end of the journey, a small prize, a clue or something to be used onsite for a location specific geo-cache.

This process will continue until all of the drawers are opened and the final prize is revealed. Of course there may be some secrets about the box that aren't so evident...

For more about the mechanics of the box, go check out...

https://www.sundial.com/quest-box/notes-for-builders/

Natural or Man Made?

A variety of robotics engineers are now exploring how to make electronics more like plant life.

A plant that grows roots...

a plant that reacts to human movement

Under the hood.

luminescent electronic plant like systems.

How tech is changing Education...

These videos begin to sum up the methods and mindsets that I plan to discuss with my thesis...

Gadgets for sale...

Some neat electronic gadgets that I found from the company Quirky...

Also, this one is an analog invention, but I think it's pretty useful none the less...

3d Art

Adam Martinakis

Click the link above to take a look at some amazing graphic work done by Adam Martinakis, artist and technology guru, this guy really pushes 3d rendering into some interesting areas.

Adam Martinakis - digital 3d art 2009-2011 from Adam Martinakis on Vimeo.

Yeah, that's a fish driving. Deal with it.

The Future and Robots and Drones, Oh-My!

While this post doesn't relate directly to what I want to build in the class, I have found a lot of inspiration in these  videos about the future, robots and drones...

First, is an article looking at the predicted future of 2050. As all predictions go, some of these things will most likely come to pass (automated driving systems for sure), and others will not... (the segue thing has been kind of a bust). With the rise of drone technology, I think the advent of flying cars may indeed actually come to pass in my lifetime.

2050 - and the future of transportation

While on the topic of drones, here are a few videos that I have been looking at demonstrating their possibilities.

Both videos show drones flying in groups and following unbelievable commands. The third video shows a drone flying around with a glass of wine on it... this made me think of a future with rooms or bars that contain drone tables that follow you around.

Now from Drones to robots... lots of varieties here.

Robots to do things, such as exploration...

and the humanization of robots. The Zeno, is especially interesting.

Drawing with GPS

Another thing that I have been interested in for a while is drawing via GPS. In a nod to the conceptual artists, I think it would be interesting to have driving or walking directions (ala google maps) act "as the artwork", and then when people traverse the rought provided, a GPS tracker creates various drawings. These drawings could even relate to places traveled to (local pet shops draw the shape of a fish) or be ironic in nature (us historical landmarks draws a shape of a dollar bill).

Below are a couple of videos that I have found in this regard...

Youth Hacking...

In terms of education and where physical computing is starting to take hold, young versions of maker space programs such as Curriosity Hacked (Formerly Hacker Scouts) are popping up. This program takes the concept of small projects or badages that build on each other (or scafold) to slowly increase skills.

 

The future of Audrino Prototyping?

I found this great site that lets you simulate programming and wiring audrino projects online...

http://www.123dapp.com/circuits

http://123d.circuits.io/

Unfortunately the site is slightly clunky and there is only a limited number of parts you can use (for instance, there is no Piezo Element). It is also a bother that the basic TUT's don't have a back button and sometimes code that works on the audrino, error's out.

There are good things too though, such as being able to change the resistance of a transistor or the color of an LED by simply changing a few numbers. All in all, this is certainly a step in the right direction to making physical computing more teacher and student friendly.

Getting musical...

I wired up a piezo element to my Audrino today. I started with the base code that played twinkle twinkle littler star provided by Audrino's website.

I immediately got sick of that and went off to find some better tunes.

I then found code online for playing the Mario theme and the underworld theme. After I did some fiddling and learned how to write a pitches.h file to improve the melody I got that up and running.

Looking through the code, things here are much more complex, but I started to figure out what was going on after staring at it for a bit.

I then ventured to find the notes to a different song and attempt to write it out myself. Keeping with the video game theme I choose to do the zelda theme and using a notated YouTube video of someone playing it, put in the proper notes and pauses into my code.

Here is the result...

Also, here is a link to the base code for this:
Mario Themes

Blink!

So I ran the blink code for Audrino last week for the first time annnnd...

Ta-Da! A blinking LED.

Only a few more steps to this...

Off to experiment!

Simulated Sunrise

One Idea that I have been toying with for a final project revolves around a simulated sunrise. My girlfriend has trouble getting up in the morning, especially in the winter as many people do. I am considering creating a fake window that acts as a sunrise alarm clock, and possible also a motion activated light switch. I might even program the Audrino to measure the light outside and mimic it.

Here are a few products and projects that I have found that relate to this:

First up we have a little bot that searches for the brightest light source that it can find.

Next a sunrise alarm clock that runs on your computer...

And one that simply uses LED's.
http://www.electronics-lab.com/blog/?p=12663

Finally a lamp that looks like a setting sun Designed by Natalia Rumyantseva of Russia.

Art that plays with it's viewers...

These small robotic sculptures are rife with whimsy and humor. I would like to incorporate a human element into my work as well. Something that is unexpected and makes people smile...

Drinkspiration...

There's nothing like some good old fashioned drinkspiration. Here are a few cocktail inspired electronics projects that I find intriguing.

Ambient Light

Found this nifty little gadget today that mimics the ambient light in a video or still image on a screen and glows with that same color from behind the screen. It's even smart enough to know what part of the screen has what color on it and can display different colors at the same time.

I think this could be used in some creative way beyond simple ambient lighting.

Also, this computer controlled LED light panel is intriguing.

HELLO WORLD!

Welcome to my very first blog post - ever. Though I have written many musings over the years, this is the first time I have done so in a blog format. This semester I will be writing about the exciting world of electronics and sculpture.

Here you will find a collection of other peoples projects that I find interesting (such as those below). I will also be chronicling my own adventures and growth as I hack, build and code my projects into existence.

The following is a collection of video links of projects that I found interesting. They all use movement, light or sound in some way. Overall, my personal inclinations seem to gravitate toward playful uses of technology that are fairly fluid and mimic nature.

So without further ado, here's some content... Enjoy!

First up we have a Halloween costume that has an electronic face which

responds when you talk and alters the sound of your voice.

Next up we have the artwork of Martijn van Wagtendonk

Edith Kollath, a weird falling sheet thing.

Also Edith's weird breathing books...

Reuben Margolin's low tech fluid sculptures

And finally a crazy metal mechanical LED version of Reuben's concepts.