This image represents just a small sample of the incredible donation of treasures I received this weekend! Deep sincere thanks to my long time friend, tutor, and collaborator Christopher Palmer (CTP). This is just what I needed to get back into the swing of things in the new studio.
“Make: Live airs tonight! Don’t miss our mechanics episode where guests Lenore Edman, Windell Oskay (in the picture), and Dustyn Roberts join us to show off their kinetic projects”
MAD SCIENTIST ARTIST GARAGE SALE
@ XIAN STUDIOS
February 5th & 6th
11am – 6pm
XIAN STUDIOS
1037 Murray St.
Berkeley, CA 94710
(one block south of Ashby, off San Pablo Ave. Up the street from Urban Ore)
MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/PPFN
We’ve got an incredible collection of gear here at our art space and it’s time to get rid of it! Incredible prices! Priced to move! Deals Deals Deals!
Art – Art Supplies – Electronics
Circuit Boards – Stereo Equipment
Speakers – Computers – Printers
Hard Drives – Monitors – Servers
Electric Motors – Photography
Camera and Video Gear – Tripods
Clothing – Fabric – Jewelry – power tools
Furniture – Couches – Chairs – Tables
Metal Halide Lights – Books
Motorcycles and Parts – Cars – Bicycles
Wood – Metal – Fans – Heaters
Kitchen Stuff – Blender – Coffeemaker
2002 Ford Th!nk Electric Vehicle
1987 Peugeot 505 Sedan (low mileage, runs great!)
Electric Vehicle Parts (motors, controllers, etc)
Solar Inverters – RGB LED Rope Lights
Video Projectors – Electrostatic Air filters
Arduino The Documentary (2010) English HD from gnd on Vimeo.
We’ve been anticipating this production for a while, and it’s finally ready – Arduino The Documentary is, well, just that. Just watch it 
Met Tom on Monday, then Nemo and Jeremy Thursday, Benjamin and Christopher Friday… WOW what a week
Thanks fellas be back ASAP
Where to begin….?
For starters, if you don’t know what a Leslie Speaker is, click here, then come back.
Over at Beavis Audio Research (one of my favorite places for circuits, effects, amps, oscillators, and sonic glee and madness) he has tried to build a rotating speaker using a beer can.
Why would one try to do this? I’m not going to comment on that because I do dumb crap too, all the time, in the name of science…otherwise known as just killing time and keeping my brain out of trouble.
Just when I wondered if the world needed yet another Arduino clone, along comes one that I actually need. It comes unsoldered, which is great for end use versatility. It has the usual Arduino connector footprint so will work with shields. It doesn’t have USB on board which saves money and height. It’s red and has flames (of course that’s a selling point for me – YMMV) All that for $13! This is pretty sweet.
From the EMSL site:
“Diavolino (“little devil”) is a low-cost, easy to build Arduino-compatible development board.
Diavolino has the form factor of an Arduino Duemilanove or Arduino Pro, but with nicely rounded corners and a striking appearance.
It’s a low-profile through-hole version, with a simplified design. It’s based on a ATmega328P microcontroller, and comes pre-flashed with the Arduino bootloader. Open source design, with bare basics hardware.”
it’s a midi instrument with an array of 12 strung bows mounted to a curved shower rod. the end of each bow has a tuning key. the strings are each picked using independently mounted arms. one servo controls the downward motion of the pick while the other controls the rotation of the shaft. a damper is also attached to each arm. the string vibrations are transferred to a spruce soundbox under the bridge.
I think that what I like about this piece is that it works from the opposite direction that a lot of work has been going, which is instead of focusing on the interface, and what it is that the audience interacts with, it instead focuses on side of the mechanics of the sound’s creation. And I appreciate that. Great piece!
Over at Beavis Audio they’ve posted a page of handy schematics. I love keeping schematic blocks like this within easy reach as I always seem to need a quick and simple oscillator, amplifier, or filter of some sort.
From the post:
“With all the bits of schematic goo I’ve been obsessively drawing over the years, it seemed like a good idea to put some of the fragments and misc blocks up on a page. Here it is: Blocks and Fragments. I’ll update this page over time as I draw up new things. Note that most are fragments and some are unverified, but there should be some useful bits in there for you.”
Kinetic sculptor Aaron Geman is showing a wonderful new kinetic piece at Mercury20 Gallery in Oakland. I think the title is “Parallelotree and the Mechanical Wind”, don’t quote me yet though – we’re looking into it.
This is something I have been hoping to see (but smart enough to not try to do myself) ever since I first saw someone using TELEO modules way back when. But when I saw TELEO I knew I wanted something more, and different (and hopefully at a much lower price.) The TinkerKit is currently under development, and is not yet commercially available. We will certainly be following the project’s progress with bated breath…or is that bated blogging?
Lifted from the TinkerKit website:
TinkerKit is an Arduino-compatible physical computing prototyping toolkit aimed at design professionals.
The interest in physical computing as an area in development within the creative industries has been increasing rapidly. In response to this Tinker.it! is developing the TinkerKit to introduce fast iterative physical computing methodologies to newcomers, and particularly design professionals.
What is the TinkerKit made of?
The TinkerKit is currently composed of about 30 different parts: 20 different types of sensors, 10 actuators. There is also a set of Arduino-compatible hubs. Each part of the TinkerKit has a standard connector that can be connected through a standard cable to a main hub.
These hubs include:
- A sensor hub for the Arduino (this is a shield that sits on top of the Arduino and allows the sensors to be connected easily).
- A keyboard emulator (which converts any input from the sensors into keystrokes).
At the moment, the sensors included as part of the TinkerKit are:
- Tilt Sensor
- 3 Axis Accelerometer
- Bend Sensor
- 1 Axis Gyroscope
- Hall Sensor
- Infra Red Distance Sensor
- LDR Light Sensor
- 2D Compass
- Rotary Potentiometer
- Capacitative touch Sensor
- PIR Sensor
- Touch Slider
- Touch Wheel
- Ultrasound distance sensor
- GPS
- Encoder
- Linear potentiometer
- Piezo
Multitouch Prototype 2 from Randy Jones on Vimeo.
So this got the attention of our (that being CTP and I) class today. Multitouch, pressure and velocity sensing?! And under $50 to make!!!? W00t! Three or four of us are gearing up to try and make one these, what, Intimate Controller? Multidimentional Force Sensor? I’m not sure what they are being called, but we want to make one this semester.
CDM, I think, says it best: “Who needs a “top 10 technologies of 2008″ post for CDM when this particular instrument could pretty easily top the whole list? Let’s just call it done, and uncork the champagne: major congrats, Randy!”
But here is the kicker: the audio interface that he uses runs at about $1000. That’s a bit steep for most people who are attracted to this project precisely because it is inexpensive. In the comments for the video, Randall hints at both OSC and use of the Arduino in future versions, so it doesn’t sound like it’s out of the realm of possibilities. If true, the latter would really allow this project to get it’s legs, while the former could open up whole new realms of possibilities (video manipulation, use in Supercollider, Chuck or Processing).
Exciting!
I don’t know how old this is, but I just ran across it searching for something completely different (ok, not *completely* different, just not this, per se). Anyways, it’s a write up for doing realtime manipulation of an audio signal with an Arduino. Pretty cool, and considering all of the other things that you can throw into the mix with an Arduino (flex sensors, pressure sensors, distance sensors, the list goes on) this would be great for live performances.
Read it here.
Hack-a-Day has a post up about a neat and clean way of doing led pushbuttons from pros. (translated)
The LED isn’t actually soldered where it passes through the board. The anode and cathode are bent around and soldered to allow the LED a little bit of travel.
Looks really nice. I am going to have to try this on my next project.
via Hack-a-Day
Shamelessly lifted off our pal, Bre Pettis 
Bre Pettis just blogged about a new Arduino variant, called the “O’Baka” made by Kimio Kosaka (baka means “stupid” in Japanese, evidently)
Click here for the project’s website.
Applied Kinetic Arts’ show at the Y2Y gallery closes this Friday. The Y2Y Gallery is located at Jeff King & Company, 251 Balboa Street, in San Francisco.
Stay tuned for AKA’s next show, where and whenever that might be.
CDM has a review of the new MOTU Volta software. This software (currently Mac only) allows users to control their analog synth (with either the MOTU audio interface or the RME Fireface) via their computer and “turns your audio interface into a Control Voltage device.”
Read the full review and tutorial here.
There’s this very cool site, called Electronics-Lab.com, and they have a very cool new thing, and that’s a whole lot of nice looking electronics stock photos, all for free. This is great stuff for creating lessons, Instructables, brochures, or anywhere you may need such pictures.
Oh, and yes, the picture on this post is from their collection.
I plan to write more about Electronics-Lab.com in future posts.
Several times a week I get asked by someone what I recommend as the best/easiest/quickest/least expensive way to learn about electronics. Some people learn best in a classroom environment, but a lot of people don’t have the time, or the money to do that. My standard recommendation for self study has been, for quite a while now, a 300-in-1 Electronics Learning Lab (so called because they contain parts and instruction for 300 different circuit lessons), and a good book. Both can be had for a total of less than $100.
The book I recommend is Paul Scherz’ “Practical Electronics For Inventors” a wonderfully complete tome that is of use from the very beginnings into experthood. The link above is to the second edition. Note that used copies of the first edition are available at very good prices, and it is still a very fine book.
As far as my recommendation for the kit goes, there are two on the market – I call them the black one and the white one. The black one comes from Radio Shack, and I can highly recommend it as I have owned one for years. The two part manual (a good basic electronics reference in its own right) was written by Forrest Mims. The kit can be purchased online, or in most Radio Shack stores for around $70. More info at RadioShack.com
The other unit on the market is available all over the place…but be careful. In my recent searches I found it priced anywhere from $80 to $130 – yes, a $50 swing on the exact same item. The average price is somewhere around $100. I know a lot of this particular kit gets sold, and I know that there are happy customers out there, but I have no personal experience with it. From looking at the list of 300 projects the two kits look very, very similar. Here’s the best deal I found on the white kit.
One last thing – neither of these kits contain nor discuss microcontrollers. They are for learning basic analog and digital electronics. The stuff they’ll teach you will come in very handy, though, if and when you decide to try your hand at microcontrollers.
Over at CDM, they have a write up on the new BUG Labs modular computing platform that caught my eye:
…BUG Labs, makers of open source, Linux-based hardware you can snap together like Lego bricks, now has a range of new modules. Most interesting to readers here: there’s an audio module, with input, output, a speaker, and even the possibility of basic onboard DSP. Combined with the other modules – GPS positioning, accelerometer/proximity sensor, physical computing-style inputs and outputs for sensors and robotics and switches and things, a touchscreen, a Linux-powered computer, a camera with stills and video, cell phone SIM – this could lead to some interesting projects. It’s certainly got competition from conventional computers and new Linux-powered devices like the Android platform, but then, that just makes for a healthier range of choices for designing your own mashed-up, hacked-up hardware of the future.
Seems exciting to me. What I think will be most exciting is seeing what people will do with this and other open source hardware platforms such as the Arduino and the BeagleBoard
Hackzine has an interesting post about using an Arduino board to control a Sony camcorder:
If you’re an Arduino fan, you can easily create your own custom devices that can interact with your camcorder using the LANC protocol, allowing you to control zoom and record functions from your own programs. Goose wrote about his own project and example Arduino source:
I found source code to do LANC control with the Arduino board. It was written quite well – it worked the first time out. I made a few changes though, specifically changing it from being controlled by a serial port to being controlled by a potentiometer. I plan to build my own zoom controller with it, using an Arduino Mini.
Read the Hackzine post here.
Jon Sarriugarte and Krysten Mate have posted an Instructable detailing the building process for their Snail Art Car. Good info here for, for “building any kind of art car… I hope by posting this you gather your own team (most of mine had no experience) and make your own dream car together.”
Via Make
Vague Terrain recently posted their newest journal, this time focusing on “Device Art” and “the long lineage of machine making in arts and industry and [collecting] a survey of contemporary work to represent this emerging microcontroller-driven age.”
This abundance feeds an underground culture of hackers and ‘circuit benders’ in much the same way that the post World War II glut of cars fuelled the hot rod craze of the 50s and 60s … The rise of rapid protoyping and small-run custom manufacturing means that an artist can essentially have a factory in their living room, and produce electronic devices as easily as previous generations made prints or ceramics.
Read the article here.
The ever super and incomparable Violet Blue has a new blog called Art Machines, with the tagline “the art of the machine, and the machines of art”. As you can well imagine I sat up and took notice, being crazy about machines and all. Anyway go take a look, and subscribe, and enjoy!!!
As is my way these days, here’s last minute notice that Roboexotica 2008 starts this week. You see, I have been working like crazy to get a new piece ready for it. My piece is called The RimShotBot – it tells punchlines, and/or GWBushisms, or whatever I want it to, and gives itself a rimshot every time. I can also summon rimshots on cue when needed. It looks like this:
And more pix will appear in this photoset as they happen.
Kinetic art show, this Friday, 6-8PM, Y2Y Gallery at Jeff King & Company, 251 Balboa Street, in San Francisco.
See you all there, I hope!
Hiya folks!
This Sunday, September 28th, a grand event is to be held in Santa Rosa, California. It’s called The Great West End & Railroad Square Handcar Regatta & Exposition of Mechanical & Artistic Wonders. It’s free to get in, and perfect for all ages. Info on our favorite stuff can be found here. You can easily navigate to the main part of the site, as well as specific info and directions from there.
The gang I’ve come to consider family, who built the Steampunk Treehouse last year, created a 10 foot diameter hamster wheel for humans called The Lumbering Contraption (pictured above). It is set to compete in the handcar races on the railroad tracks at the event.
I hope to see you all there!
photo 1 – Bena Currin
photo 2 – Nick Winterhalter
Beat Box by Toru Kawarazaki
Yoichi Nagashima from SUAC (Shizuoka University of Art and Culture) just presented a lot of the work his students have done over the years using physical computing. There is a very rich web archive of the work, go look.
Nathan Seidle, owner of Sparkfun Electronics, thinks very hard about something.
I am sitting at the Sketching in Hardware 08 conference, being held this year at RISD in Providence, R.I. This is the third annual Sketching conference, and my third as well. I will be posting links to interesting stuff that gets presented here. My presentation isn’t until Sunday so I have some more time to work on it.
“Sketching in hardware is the process through which we understand the capabilities of emerging hardware technologies.
As digital technology moved into everyday consumer products, the economics of mass production and marketing moved products from open systems that enabled experimentation to closed systems that emphasized ease of production over the ease of consumption. This technology creation culture emphasized scale, a deep understanding of basic electronics and the development of monolithic products designed for use largely in isolation from one another.
However, that may now be changing. Miniaturization, power-reduction and knowledge embedding enable smart components that abstract much of the low-level engineering complexity, while keeping the capabilities of the technology accessible and affordable to people outside of heavy industry. This has re-created the possibility of vernacular technology that can be built from smart parts. People who would otherwise be unable to directly engage with digital technology tools can now augment, manipulate, experiment, build, explore. In other words, sketch. “
Holy Moly!!!! I’ve been so busy getting ready for the annual Fire Arts Festival that I forgot to tell you all about it. Two more nights left – tonight and tomorrow. 7th Street, West Oakland, Near BART. Loads of pix online already.
More info at The Crucible’s website.
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