{"id":207,"date":"2015-09-30T03:03:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T03:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zoebachman.net\/itp\/?p=207"},"modified":"2015-09-30T22:25:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T22:25:48","slug":"pcomp-wk-4-simple-application-drawing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zoebachman.net\/itp\/?p=207","title":{"rendered":"PComp, Wk 4: Simple Application – Drawing Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTRO<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I mentioned in my\u00a0 lab blog post<\/a>,\u00a0I was really intrigued by the possibilities of controlling an object\u2019s motion. When I saw the arms of the servo motor rotate,\u00a0I started thinking about\u00a0using it to create a kind of\u00a0drawing machine.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s because a pencil is my favorite tool, but I thought it would be interesting\u00a0to look at how analog input can translate into a digital context, then be re-written as a different kind of analog output. I like playing with the idea of creating some complicated digital process to do something we could easily do as analog (this has come up a lot in my ICM sketches).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s part of me that theoretically\/conceptually enjoys the idea of unnecessary over-complications re: digital applications. But I was also\u00a0thinking\u00a0about how this particular machine\u00a0creates a product that you couldn\u2019t replicate by hand- not exactly, at least. (Thought: I wonder if I standardized this enough if I could replicate results, with human interaction being the one variable?)<\/p>\n

I used to teach photography to elementary and middle school kids and one of the first things we always did was break down what the work photography means \u2013 photo LIGHT and graph DRAW \u2013 in Greek. So I thought it would be funny to do a different kind of \u201clight drawing\u201d \u2013 using information from the light sensor to power a servo motor that has attached drawing implements.<\/p>\n

PROCESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I was already familiar with using a photosensor to control a servo motor from the lab this week, at first I encountered some issues that I hadn\u2019t come across before. My servo made a definite hissing sound when I first hooked it up. I tried it out with the second one I just bought and the same thing happened. So, I snooped around the internet and found this page<\/a>. Looks like it has something to do with the upload. I re-uploaded the sketch and didn\u2019t have anymore weird hissing issues!<\/p>\n

Once that was solved, I went about trying to figure out how to attach a drawing tool to the servo motor and what kind of drawing tool to use.<\/p>\n

I first tried out a pencil, but I couldn\u2019t get enough pressure to make a mark. Then I thought, what if I found an easy flowing ink pen\/marker\u2026maybe one I could take the ink cartridge out of, so it would be thin enough to tape to the arms?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4463\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Well\u2026I remembered I had a butt-load of gel pens (because I\u2019m still a 10 year old girl).<\/p>\n

I rigged one up, tried out a few different positions and orientations in relation to the motor and settled on the following:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4465\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Once I got that to work, I thought I\u2019d try adding a second color and see what I got. Picked orange, bc complimentary colors, yo.<\/p>\n