Arduino With Flash:

Now we have fairly strong idea of where we want to take the project, we can develop more on the stages we need to complete to get the idea into a working project. As we managed to get the light sensor working with the LED and Arduino board we can now work on how we are going to involve the projector. We felt that the best way to make the projection itself was by using flash. This can be done as the light sensor can only record two pieces of data, which is off, and on. Off and on is represented in data as zero (0) and one (1), zero being off and one being on. Because of this, we can use Action script in flash to determine weather the projection is displayed or not. An alternative to this could be a projection is always displayed, but depending what the value is of the light sensor (0 or 1), will determine which image is shown.

Corporate Identities:

Companies represent their brand through the use of logos to gain visual recognition on their products. My current identity has been 'OLZA' in red and black with the letters O, L, Z and A arranged in the style of the sign at Love park in Philadelphia, the reason for this was explained in previous posts. However, I am now looking for a different logo people can identify with me, without using the style of the Love park sign. I want this logo to be completely original.

Here is the image I have currently been using is shown below:

This was satisfactory for the website at the time but now that I have redesigned my website I feel it no longer achieves the look I am after.

To help gain inspiration I decided to look closer at existing logo's companies use so that I could produce something that fit the bill. As my website will contain a lot of skateboarding content, I decided the best place to begin was simply by checking out their logos. Below shows a mix of logos that are all very different that Im hoping will help me when creati

ng my own.

Time I think to get the note pad out and begin juggling some ideas and designs.

Keepin' it Fresh!

It has come to my attention that I really don't have long before I have to have a pretty decent looking website for this years module. The only problem is I'm struggling on what I want the design to look like. Another website I happened to stumble across was a young surfers, Julian Wilson, who has just made it on to the DC pro team. Below is a print screen that shows what the home page looks like:

The navigation menu is easy to use and simple. The main reason for me being attracted to this site is the way in which it looks. The background image looks good and immediately draws attention. Another feature about the site that I particularly like it that it has a page just for videos. This is definitely something I would like to have on my own site. Although I already do, it's not exactly a page that looks all that good. I will definitely be looking into all the points within the next 2 weeks to improve the site I already have.

And heres the trailer for his new movie coming out in september, 'Scratching the Surface'.

Idea Development:

...still bouncing ideas around in our group, we decided that we don't necessarily need to focus on getting the drivers attention, but could use traffic lights in another way to trigger our sensor. When traffic lights are red, the 'walk' sign is displayed. We could us the light from this signal to trigger our sensor, and in turn project an image onto the zebra crossing. I like this idea as it has more potential with what we can achieve.

The beginnings of an idea...

As I have mentioned this module now requires us to make a project that uses an Arduino board as well as low tech actuators and senors to interact with people in the area. As we had already been focusing on light as a factor last term, this definitely seemed to be the right route to take the project.

We were aiming to use traffic lights as the trigger for the sensor, but as we heard many of the students in other groups were also planning to use them, so we came up with car headlights. If we could pinpoint a spot where car headlights hit every time they passed on their journey along a road, we could place our sensor there.

We then started bouncing more ideas around and came up with how we were going to interact with the drivers of the cars. If we used the sensor to turn on a projector once it was exposed to light, we could project an image on another wall to attract drivers attention as they pass by. The nice thing about this is that it would be triggered by the drivers lights, so it would only be on as long as they passed by. The fact that theres nothing, then suddenly an image appears, and once they pass by its gone again should be enough to get their attention.

As good as this sounded to us, we then realised as effective as it may be, may not be so wise to attempt to attract the drivers attention from the road on purpose...so we decided maybe a good idea to find a spot where the headlights hit while the car was stationary, this way the car driver or any of the surrounding would not be in danger. We also decided we were more likely to catch their attention as they wouldn't be so focused on the road, giving our projection more of a chance to be seen.

Another good example:

Now that I have been researching all the different uses the Arduino board and sensors has, my Youtube account has been flooded with suggested videos that are of a related subject. Below is video that was suggested and shows exactly the kind of hacking this module has been introducing us to.

With all the different possible hacks there is very little that cant be achieved. I also found this particular video useful as we as a group have decided to continue focusing on light as a varying factor. This video uses a light sensor to trigger a switch, which is exactly the kind of hack we want to use. The ideas we came up with will be posted soon.

Arduino Boards With Sensors:

Not only can Arduino deal with simple programming to control its outputs, but it can also have sensors attached and allow inputs to control how the board behaves. (briefly talked about in precious post)

For example, If a infra red sensor was attached to the board, and the board was programmed so that once the infra red detects an object in its path, the board could control something it is connected to to change.

A good demonstration of this example is an Arduino board hooked up to a remote control car, only the cars steering is controlled by the board and the board changes direction depending on the infra red sensor. So, if the infra red detects an object in the cars way, the arduino board changes direction, but if all is clear the car will continue to travel until the sensor detects otherwise.