Hello Object

In the first class of Object, we discussed what physical computing is, the basic materials for developing circuits, and actually building breadboards. In terms of what I hope to learn from this course, I hope to be able to bridge the connection between my limited knowledge on hardware and software developing. As of right now I have worked with breadboards before and circuits but only at summer camps and it was very monitored what we were doing and we were given very specific directions. My knowledge for coding is slightly more extensive. I have completed CSCI 1300 and CSCI 2270 as well as taken a coding class with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I feel fairly comfortable with coding and don’t think that this will come as too much of an obstacle to successfully completing this course. I also want to learn more on how to make hardware interactive using software. I love the projects that were shown in class of designers taking a mundane area and making something interactive to go in the area to bring a whole new behavior and perception to it. I don’t know too much about what we are going to be doing in this class but if I can learn about each of these elements and develop skills to develop hardware, I think I will grasp everything I intend to and more from the class.

The first completed activity that we did was creating two different types of circuits to exhibit Ohms Law. The first of which was a circuit with 2 LEDs in series. In series circuits are circuits that will pass through one LED and then the current will pass through the second LED maintaining a constant current but a voltage drop across each component. For building the in series circuit we had to use the principles of Ohms law, specifically the equation (R = V/I). The voltage was calculated using the supply voltage – the voltage given by the power source which was 9V for my breadboard – subtracted by the two forward voltages of the LEDs (I used the yellow 5mm LEDs which had a forward voltage of 2.0V). Since this is an in series circuit, the current was simply the recommended forward current for the LEDs (given in miliAmps which had to be converted into Amps for the equation to work – I ended up with 0.02A). When performing the calculation, it was found that the required resistor needed for this circuit was approximately 250 Ohms. However, since we didn’t have a 250 Ohms resistor, I used a 220 Ohms resistor instead (which worked just as efficiently). The schematic for the in series circuit is shown below:

At each node shown in the image is where a connection between the previous component and the next component. The actual built circuit on the breadboard is shown below:

Video of the in series circuit working in action is here.

The basics for building this circuit consisted of connecting the power source with the positive element of the breadboard and the ground to ground. From there, there was the input of the switch that can be connected in reality to anywhere on the breadboard as long as half of the switch is on the abc side and the other on the fgh side of the breadboard. After connecting the switch, connect a wire from the positive side of the breadboard to one side of the switch. Then, connect the resistor so that one side of it is in the same row as the switch and the other side of the resistor to a separate, empty row on the breadboard. To that row add the positive side (longer side) of an LED and the negative side to a new empty row and then add in that row the positive side of the second LED and connect the negative side of the LED to another empty row. To the negative side of the second LED connect one side of a wire and the other side of that wire to ground state and you have completed the 2 LEDs in series circuit!

The second circuit that we built was 2 LEDs in parallel. In in parallel circuits, the voltage remains constant throughout the circuit, but the current is divided based off of their respective path. The difference with this situation is that the current will follow the path of least resistance which is essentially the shortest path. When using Ohms law, it was found that based off of the fact that there was 2 LEDs and 2 nodes, then the current (I) would be multiplied by the number of nodes in the parallel circuit which in turn causes the resistance to drop by a factor of the number of nodes. So the resistors for this series was found to be approximately 125 Ohms so I used an 100 Ohms resistor. The schematic drawing for the parallel circuit is shown below:

The actual build on the breadboard is shown below:

Video of the in series circuit working in action is here.

For building this circuit, follow the in series circuit construction up until the first LED is put into the breadboard. From the negative side of the first LED, attach one side of a wire in the same row as the negative side of the first LED and connect it to ground. Get a second resistor of 100 Ohms and attach one side of it to the same row as the switch, then attach the other side to an empty row in the breadboard. Then, add to the same row as the second resistor the positive side of the second LED and the negative side of the LED into an new, empty row. From the negative side of the LED’s row, add one side of a wire and attach the other side to the ground. This is a working 2 LED in parallel circuit. How you can test to make sure this is a circuit in parallel is by removing one of the LEDs. If the other LED still lights up, then it is in parallel, otherwise you could still have it in series.

As for developing a final project, I am a bit flabbergasted as to what I want to complete for this project. I am still learning what this class will entail and furthermore the skills I will develop to be able to create a project. However, after a few hours of thinking about this project I have come up with two ideas that I think can be possible. The first of which would be a version of Simon Says in which there would be a series of 4 buttons that were colored and they start with a pattern, starting with one button, and continuously adding another button to the sequence and the user has to respond back the same pattern or they lose. I really loved this game when I was in middle school and would like to implement a similar product. However, if possible I would like for it to also incorporate a different sound with each button press as well. The second possible idea for a final project would to do something that is similar to what Jen Lewin did with the Sidewalk Harp and make an interactive, light up (possibly with sound) piece of electronics. This would be so that when you placed your hand over the sensor it would change the color of the sensor or potentially the noise. I still need some more knowledge of course to implement these ideas however I do think both are possible.