Gil Sperling

video, stage and music

week 7

October 16, 2019 by gilsperling

Serial communication

I followed the labs concerned with serial communication. I was able to set up the circuitry and code to send a set of serial data from two analog sensors and one digital sensor through the Arduino. I could see how manipulating the data between modes (Ascii, binary, decimal) changed the serial output.
When it came time to receive that information in p5, I reached a block. I installed the p5 serial library and the serial control app, and copied the p5 code included in the examples. I was able to display the serial ports list but nothing beyond. Although the tutorials are extremely detailed, it seemed like there were a few errors in the code, and the overall complexity was a bit overwhelming.
I decided to take a detour, and work in an environment I’m more familiar with. Isadora can receive serial data and doesn’t require multiple programs running. I was able to rather quickly learn the syntax for interpreting serial data and using the separate variables to control graphic elements.

Isadora sketch for receiving serial data from an Arduino

It was a useful exercise since we plan on using Isadora in our midterm project to control projections.

Midterm Concept

Erkin and I began conceptualizing our midterm project and testing sensor behavior.

The Ghost of 370 Jay

A haunted house installation designed for a long, narrow corridor.
Projected image and sound respond to a user approaching closer to the screen upon which the image is projected.
The behavior we want to detect:
A user is 16′ away from the screen.
A user is 8′ away from the screen.
A user is 2′ away from the screen.
The sensor array consist of three ultrasonic range sensors, set at the above distances. Each sensor is measuring the distance across the width of the corridor, and sends a trigger when the distance is below a certain margin, indicating that a person has passed through.
The sensors will input into an Arduino which will send three separate variables over serial connection to Isadora.
A projector placed behind the screen will project a human character.
The different distance triggers will cue video and sound loops (the character calling the user to come closer, and then some surprise event when the user has reached the screen).

Posted in Fall '19 - Introduction to Physical Computation |

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