This tutorial session saw us explore options surrounding Input/Output systems. Going off last weeks idea exploration we decided to look a little further into the Mail/Letter Box notification system.
Using the parts we had obtained through deconstructing our various products we set up a basic system using;
- A light
- A power source
- Wires
- Pressure pad
From these items we design a system intended for a users Letter Box where once mail is dropped into the letter box, the weight of the mail initiates the pressure pad which in turn triggers the light, lighting it up and notifying the user there is mail within the letter box.
Variations included;
- Weight control; where the light would only engage once a certain weight of letters was in the letter box.
- Using the infra red components from our remote controls we would set up a sensor system that would trigger the light to go on once an individual with the receiver sensor (postman) stood in front of the letter box for a period of time (delivering the mail)
- Different light effects - Flickering, Dimming/Brighter, Colours
- Inclusion of an extra output of Sound
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| A look at how the intended design would work/look within a Letter Box |
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| A break down of the circuit, and as you can see, it's rather basic |
However, after all this consideration and brainstorming, while looking at the CRA sheet, and once we broke the system down into a circuit, we realised it was too simplistic and wouldn't help us achieve the grades we wanted.
So back to the drawing board we went. This time we decided to speak to some of the tutors and get a better understanding of what could be achieved with an input/output system and the variations that we might have over looked. So to start us off Leo expressed the basic necessity to break everything (inputs/outputs) into senses and then try different combinations with what we had in front of us.
The applicable senses we used were;
- Touch
- Light
- Sound
Using these basic senses we looked at a variety of possible combinations to create input/output systems, but the real break through was not limiting our systems to just input/output in the singular. We looked to expressing a system through the possibilities of;
Input/output ---> Input(output)/output
An input produces an output, that output is then the next input which in turn creates another output. Using this train of thought we went solo for a few minutes to come up with out own systems which we would then discuss as a group once again.
Some of the ideas I came up with were;
touch - light - vibration - sound
sound - light - touch (turn off) ------ Too basic
light - sound - touch (turn off) ------ Too basic
touch - light/sound - touch
touch - sound/vibrations - release touch - sound/vibrations
(increases slowly) (decreases slowly)
Taking influence from some of these combinations I then applied them to a practical sense.
Window sensor - windows open - fan speed decreases (due to what is presumed as natural air flow)
Blind sensor - Blinds raised/opened - lights dimmed/turned off
outside breeze flows - fans within devices slowed down/turned off
From these ideas, and collaborating with the rest of my group about their ideas, we decided the possibility of constructing, and applying to everyday life would best be suited by the blind sensor idea. This idea had the possibility to be a sustainable way forward in modern day living and worked off the notion of;
A sensor is placed on the outside of the blind (facing out of the window). This sensor is then matched by proximity sensors at different heights along the height of the window/wall that its on. When the individual begins to raise the blinds, the sensor detects light outside and turns on the proximity sensors. As the proximity sensors are engaged (at their various heights) these messages are then relayed back to a third sensor which controls the houses artificial lights for that room (brightening them or dimming them).
So essentially; as the blinds are raised in the day to allow for natural light to enter the rooms, then system dims the artificial lights for that room (or turns them off) thus reducing power wastage within a home, and preventing that horrible aesthetic combination of artificial light + natural light within a space.
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