Though I’m not on any structural design team, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the design of the center column, since that piece in particular must house some of the most complex electronic and mechanical components in the whole system: the bronze ring controls, the pendulums that animate the phytoplankton forms, and all[…]
While the possibility of servo-motors still exists, and has already been demonstrated to work under a fairly simple control scheme, servo-motors are somewhat expensive ($8-10 each) and exhibit a great deal of mechanical noise. An alternative actuator is the solenoid. While solenoids can range in cost, I have already found a source that will sell[…]
As we near the specification of the inputs and outputs of the “game,” we still have yet to determine the mapping the between them. While several good ideas are being passed around, they are all so far in text or diagram. So, for the previous week I’ve worked on a platform in Processing that may[…]
Looking into the possibilities of touch or proximity sensing–as the mechanism by which the user interacts with our model of the ecosystem, and brings that system into “balance,” or “harmony”–I looked into repurposing an FM radio receiver from an undergraduate RF Design course. I remembered, from when I was building it, that the local[…]
