September 2009
5 posts
3 tags
Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Analog Input...
Potentiometer Input
The potentiometer’s middle wire connects to the ANALOG input pin #3 on the Arduino board. No need to add resistors, becaue the potentiometer itself acts like 2 resistors, in a self-contained voltage-divider circuit. When an LED is added with a 330 Ohm resistor, and the program is uploaded to the Arduino board, we can see the LED dim and brighten with a twist of the...
Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Electronics...
A. Measuring Voltage 1. Set up breadboard
set up breadboard with 5-volt voltage regulator #7805.
bring ground to blue rails
bring red from output to power rails
2. Set up power jack (we didn’t use this exact jack in the experiment, a better jack was provided later)
3. Using the breadboard, we attached the red wire from the power jack to the input pin of the voltage regulator. The...
Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Digital Out,...
Introduction and Objectives The purpose of this lab was to get the Arduino software and board up and running on our computers, in order to control digital input and output in a series of sketches. We were to use Arduino to create a blinking LED, control an LED with a momentary switch, and build a unique switch of our own to test what we have learned in the demonstration exercises.
Materials
...
Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Soldering Lab
Introduction and Objectives This lab is an introduction to soldering, a key skill needed for making fixed connections in our Physical Computing projects. Soldering was demonstrated in class, and this lab enabled us to try the technique ourselves to understand the properties of the hot iron, the components, and the solder bind. The goal was to make a successful join of wire to a switch, then test...
1 tag
Imagining Physical Computing
“Dogs in America get more affection than women in most Third World countries.” ~Cesar Millan
When we are asked to imaging a physical computing project, I immediately think of physical personal reminders. Everyone is so busy, and important things can sometimes be forgotten. When I see statistics like the number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year is at 3–4 million, I believe this is...