Whilst I am sitting here in the library slowly losing faith in society I am still trying to get on with work. It does seem that there is a lot of people out there, and even in here where people are not willing on just putting their heads down and getting on with things. Anyway, getting on with the purpose of this post, my progress this week.
The main focuses for me this week was to properly know what I was wanting to do for phase 2 and then get on with it. I am focussing heavily on electronics and the making of the mark 1 model. So to start off with I will talk about the electronics.
After weeks of deliberation of how I was going to achieve it, I have decided on the rather risky yet ultimately safe (if you know what I mean) method of using 2 Arduino’s. This would help improve the reliability of the product and it would mean that I could quickly and efficiently get the code to work and do what I wanted it to do. I split it up into two parts. One for each Arduino. One of them will take over the roll that the PicAXE played up until this point and do all the flashing and vibrating when a message is received on the phone. The second Arduino will take over the more complicated task of doing the mood light and the pulsing etc. Things which I am finding a little more difficult.
Talking of things that are difficult. It is a well held belief in the class that Arduino is easier to programme than PicAXE. I am going to say rubbish. There is no way that it is. As an example, for the basic code I used for the LED’s to light up and a thing to vibrate took very little coding and very little time with the PicAXE. With the Arduino, I have spent the good part of a few days getting it to do the same thing. Not only that, with the PicAXE I managed to have a decent number of inputs from LDR’s. With the Arduino however, I can only get 2 to work. I really want three but I only have two working at the moment. Having three would have been more reliable but I guess that I will have to make do with two unless I do more troubleshooting.
Going on to the aesthetic side of things, everything is moving along nicely. But, and this is a big but, I am getting cold feet about the design that I am evidently going with. Yes it is simple and yes I wanted it to be simple, but I don’t really know if it shows my ability at all. I will have to keep going with it because I have spent so much time looking at how it all fits together and the way it is all going to work within the design that I have chosen. Also, I spent a good three hours on the laser cutter yesterday cutting out pieces that will make up the mark 1 hand in for the 20th of this month.
All in all, there were 90+ pieces cut out yesterday and in seeing them all together it is rather impressive and it is swaying me to make the final thing in a similar sort of manner. I managed to get a good deal of packaging sorted yesterday and I found out that I will be able to fit 2 arduinos and corresponding breadboards inside which is encouraging. I haven’t taken all the pictures off my camera yet so I can’t show you what it looks like just yet properly, but I did take some on my phone, which are the ones that are dotted about this post.
The video below shows the quick test I did of how the LED’s would show up when shone through the couple of blocks of Acrylic. In low light it looks fantastic, but in brighter conditions it doesn’t really fare too well, but it is supposed to be used at night.
Quick post with some pictures from today. I did a little bit of work on my computer before noticing the electronics workshop was open. This meant that I could get the wires soldered onto the LED’s. This then resulted in the chance to finish one of my prototypes with all the electronics inside it. Best of all though, it worked, but it has given me some food for thought about the aesthetics about it. I am currently consulting some stakeholders about this just now…
Three weeks into this semester seems like an ideal time to talk about this modules project. After the shambles that was last semester, it is refreshing to be back on a project where you are not put under as much pressure. This should mean that the work produced should be better.
The project for this semester is based on ones set by D&AD for their student awards competition. We had a choice of 4 set by different companies who sponsor the competion:
Michelin: Create a unique product for MICHELIN that would provide real life assistance to high risk motorists in a roadside emergency situation.
The Body Shop: Design a contemporary range of packaging for The Body Shop that unites their brand values with the premium nature of the products.
Oxfam: Present an idea that engages support for Oxfam by triggering shared values and concerns in a wide range of people.
E.ON: Engage generation “Y” in a relationship with E.ON that champions new ways to use energy in the home and empowers them to enlist others in an energy revolution.
Of the four briefs, I chose to do the one set by Michelin, as it was, in a way, about cars, which I like… very much…
Week 1: In the first week of the project, we sat down in groups, depending on the brief that we had chosen, and discussed the brief. What were they asking us to do? What sort of situation might you be in? Have we been in an accident or other roadside emergency ourselves? After this we were given a week to carry out as much research as we possibly could regarding the company and what sort of area we might like to focus on. I contacted a few roadside emergency services, such as the AA and the RAC asking numerous questions, from which I got no response*. A questionnaire was also constructed and posted somewhere where I knew I would get numerous responses and I was not disappointed. The results given were rich in information and provided a deep insight into what people thought. This along with masses of secondary research gave huge amounts to work with, which was useful for the following week.
Week 2: At the start of week two, we went into the groups once again and discussed what we found out. This then led onto the brainstorming of various different ideas to get us thinking. Different insights and scenarios were also thought of so the idea generation could be continued on as we saw fit. Group discussion over we were to go away and in the style that is synonymous with the product design course here, we were to come up with 100 ideas (which I don’t think is the most effective way of idea generation) for the following week, but this time in the format of an A0 sheet and not a sketchbook as this was thought to make the process easier. In fact it made it a little more awkward. I had the sheet stuck on my wall in my room, and was planning on recording it just to show the process of the 100 ideas but the time it took, eventually led me to scrap that idea after only a small amount of time recording.
Week 3: The 100 ideas were whittled down to 3 and the sheet was handed in. The three ideas (shown below) had to be decided and developed over the course of this next week. This along with a first draft of a scenario board had to be completed in the short space of time. As of this moment in time, I am quite far on in the development part and have pretty much completed the scenario board, which says how the product might be used by the user, and this is, as far as I am aware, at a further point that most other people on the course. The idea which was chosen after receiving feedback from a number of people, was the idea of a high visibility flag or flap which hangs down from the bootlid of a car. This would make the car and driver much more visible when they are broken down at the side of the road.
*The no response was in regard to that week that the research was needed. Today (February 4th, and well into week 3 of the project) I received an email from the RAC with their responses to my rather hastily put together questions, so thank you to them greatly, albeit a bit late.
Again, this post is about something which I found online. I should really stop doing this as, well, it probably isn’t the best of things to be doing when I could be getting on with some sort of work.
How many of you out there have an iPod Touch or an iPhone? Well this post is probably most relevant to you then. A while ago, someone posted a link to this site on Twitter, can’t remember who it was so I am unable to give them credit for it, but nonetheless, it is a site dedicated to showcasing all of the, or what are considered to be the best produced and designed applications in the iTunes App Store.
app.itize.us has a mission statement which is as follows:
app.itize.us is a painstakingly curated presentation of the best produced and designed iPhone applications that are available for download via the App Store.
I agree with every word in that sentence, figuratively speaking of course.
A few weeks ago whilst on this site, browsing, I stumbled across what has to be my favourite game I have ever played on my iPhone or iPod Touch. Colorbind. Essentially, the aim of the game is to connect all the dots on the screen with the coloured strips of paper. It is an utterly gorgeous game which probably wouldn’t work very well on any other platform. It is a good way to let the time slip by. In a lecture, before going to bed, if you have nothing else constructive to do, or even if you should be doing something else.
There are 80 levels in total, ranging from simple one colour puzzles to more complicated 4 colour conundrums. Included is a tutorial, but the game seems very intuitive from the very start. I highly recommend this game, it is without a doubt the one of the best 59p’s I have ever spent. Slight update, I seem to have got the game when it was at its discounted price, it is currently £1.19, but it is still worth the little extra money.
If you own an iPod Touch or an iPhone, or if by the time you are reading this, an iPad, then I couldn’t urge you more to go to app.itize.us and find something which is considered to be wonderfully designed. On top of that I am going to say definitely buy Colorbind, well worth the money, even if you aren’t sure about buying it, there is also a lite version, but why waste time and install that when you could have the full one instead?
Before I start, I would like to point out that for post #37 I was originally going to write a post about our Design Studies project. Whilst it has been written and has been for a week or so, I decided not to post it yet since I just didn’t think it was any good. And also before I continue, this post was going to be called ‘Too lazy to write Vol.I’ for the reason that I couldn’t think of anything else to write.
As the title of this post suggests, I’m relatively too lazy to write something for this post so I’ll just post some videos which I found and thought were a good way to pass the time. The finding of these videos really is the result of procrastination, and what can I say in my defence? Ehm… nothing.
First video onto the chopping block is one which deserves to be watched in 1080p, well shot, and appeals (or a-peel, if you may) to the geekier side of me. I would like to do something like that, along with actually making a Reubens tube, but more on that another time.
Next up is one which I have known about for a while, well, since it was uploaded to YouTube. Just shows what can be done if you have enough determination. I really like this video.
This is something which I also quite like, in execution not really the product in this video. Videos which show how things are made from start to beginning. I have a video in a similar sort of vein to this from a few years ago showing the new new MINI. In this case it is Google’s Nexus One smart phone. Links to the other parts of the Nexus One videos are posted after the video.
Finally, I leave you with a video of something quite truly fantastic. Nothing I have watched has ever come close to the sheer brilliance of this video (this weekend anyway). Liquid Nitrogen and laptops go very well together.
Ok, it’s happened again. It happened with the Eigenharp and also with the Basalte Sentido. But I honestly can’t quite help it this time either. Somethings are beautiful, somethings are practical, some are both. This definitely falls into the beautiful only category (even though I haven’t used one), and it is truly remarkable.
Available in either steel, titanium or platinum, the Oreobject SPHEREtouch is a wonderfully eccentric computer mouse, which has the looks to die for, and the ergonomics you probably will end up dying because of. Each one is hand assembled and crafted.
Whilst I do want one because it looks fantastic, it is something which I probably would never use. Also because I wouldn’t want to spend about £160 on a computer mouse. I’ll stick with my trusty Mighty Mouse for the time being.
Do you find your light switches far too plain and utilitarian? Would you like to have something much more interesting on your wall to control your lighting needs? You do? Well look no further. These Basalte Sentido touch sensitive light switches are exactly what you need to make that arduous task of flicking a switch more interesting. Control multiple lights and/or use it as a dimmer switch using effectively what is multi touch. They were also awarded the Red Dot Design Award for it in 2009.
They are beautifully simple, and come in an array of different styles. They also feature some sort of illumination so you are able to find the switch in the dark. Excellent. I’ll take 6.
Taking a look at their website, under the design section there is a single sentence, which sums up what designers should be aiming for. “When designing our products, we look for an emotional connection. Our products should not only look or feel good, they should also be great fun to use” If this was adhered to more often, we would keep hold of our objects for longer, throw less away, and take care of what we own. This would remove the more useless products from the shelves, and help go back to the time when designers just weren’t a ‘tool’ so companies could say their product has been ‘designed’ so they can raise the prices.
Post previously going to be called “Let there be light… and music!” until I decided to defer posting this until it had been completely finished and I was in such a mood to finish what I had started on here.
The following post has not really been updated too much from original draft up until now, so any updates made during this post being held back will have an update next to it, so they have not been updated since this has been published. The first part of this post was written on the 14th of November, so it has been sitting, waiting in the wings for almost a month.
Time for another update about the radio project. Since the last time I posted something about it, there hasn’t really been that much of a change. After spending time getting the two light organs soldered up and then hooked up to get them tested, neither of them worked. This was a very big problem as the feature of the radio, having the light flicker to the sound produced by the radio, was very important. This problem even flummoxed the graduate in the department who is helping us with the electronics part of the project.
Eventually, the decision was taken to ditch those two light organ kits and try and use something else. So a Vellemans MK 103 light organ kit was ordered. This kit, instead of being hooked up directly to the speaker of the radio, is hooked up to a microphone. Getting it soldered up and tested, showed that it worked, and so finally I am able to move ahead with the technical prototype.
On the aesthetics side of the radio, they haven’t really moved on that far, a top cover has been produced and overall dimensions have been calculated, and put into a cutting list in preparation for it to be made, starting this week. I’ll post photos of the exterior of it once it has finished instead of the concept model since there are some differences which make all of the difference between them both.
So that was a little update for this part of the course. The next time I say something about it, I should be finished it and it should all work. And on that note, I leave you with a video of me testing the light organ.
Update: As of today, the 23rd of November, I have commenced making the radio and should be finished it within the next week or so. And despite generally seeming generally positive about the project, everything has just dipped in terms of its ability to keep me interested. I shall power on though, and it will be a very long and hard couple of weeks until everything is finished.
Update II: Today, the 9th of December see’s the project finally finished. Well, in all honesty, it finished on Monday, the 7th, but because I was exhausted and didn’t really want to post anything about it then, since it was still quite annoying me and not really something I was going to spend even more time on when I had finished, I had decided to leave it for a few days and come back to it when I could reflect on what I had done more effectively than what I would have done on Monday.
A few weeks ago, when the model of the radio was being made, it was clear that despite looking quite good in the original concept sketches, the proportions of the actual model were not what they would have liked to have been. It was far too chunky for my liking. And so began the smorgasbord of different problems which occurred over the next few weeks in finishing the project.
Making the model went pretty well, and only took about a day and a half total, but then the next problem arrived. The painting and finishing of the model. Painting it started off well enough, as did the sanding down of each layer of paint to get it smooth before the next layer was put on. It then turned out that when the paint was finished, there was none left in the studio or the workshop, so a trip to B&Q was in order. A small tester pot was bought of emulsion paint, which was the same colour as the paint used. However, once it was painted on the model and it was dry, it was clear that the paint was not the same, it was a light grey. So instead of just one more layer of paint, the model required a further 2 coats, which took too much time, and the finish on the exterior was not as good as I would have liked it.
The next problem to crop up was with the electronics. One week before the deadline, the electronics were working. The day in which 12 hours were spent in the studio, albeit doing Design Studies, instead of doing the radio, they were working fine, and a video was made of the electronics working was made and uploaded to YouTube. However, the day before the deadline, when the model had been finished drying and sanded, and was getting put together, a number of wires came off the volume potentiometer on the radio, so a quick trip to a friend who had a soldering iron was in order, and thanks to them for allowing me to use their soldering iron. Everything was then working fine, until attempting to assemble the model part 2. More wires from the radio circuit board came off, and the potentiometer on the light organ stopped working. There was no time to solder them that night, so I had to make sure I got into the studio early the next morning to get them soldered.
The next day, deadline day, I did manage to resolder the radio, and get the light organ working again, but the radio decided to make a buzzing noise, similar to that of a small toy aeroplane, I could live with that, however, it was doing it when it was switched off. Quickly playing around with a number of the wires, resoldering some more of them, seemed to temporarily solve the problem. Enter trying to assemble the radio part 3. It was all going well until, just millimetres away from getting the base cover on the radio, the buzzing started again. The cover was quickly whipped off, and the buzzing stopped, and reassembling began again. Went well this time, cover went on, light bulb inserted into the holder, time to test the radio. Turned the dial, switched it on and increased the volume and…….. nothing, the radio was dead. The batteries were inserted and there was nothing. The cover was removed once again to find that another wire had come off. But the wire which came off was from a position which would have taken ages to fix, and all I had was 2 hours. I was sick of the project at this point and had to leave it, I had a video of it working from the previous week and that is all I had to go with on that front.
One of the other things which I am considering to be a problem regarding the radio was the dials and the buttons on the radio. They didn’t quite fit or seem to appear to work as well as I would have liked them. The dials were too big, too chunky, didn’t fit the appearance of the radio at all. The buttons were fine, but the they did keep on falling off.
Overall the only part of the radio project which I am relatively pleased with the outcome of was the presentation boards which accompanied the radio for the hand in. Despite making them with a cold/fluey bug type thing, they turned out quite well and the way which I actually envisaged.
Did I like the project? On the whole, sort of. There were many high points, but there were also quite a few low points which did bring the overall mood about it down. Stress levels overall were far too high for my liking, and because of that, many packets of Polo’s were consumed. Let’s just hope that the project next semester is much better than this one though.
Before I go any further, I would like to say that in all honesty, I had lined up another post to publish today, but frankly, it’s been a long day and I didn’t really want to upload something which was causing quite a bit of strife at the moment, possibly at the end of the week or next week then.
Now, because I decided not to post the thing which I was going to post, I can’t think of anything else to write about, so I guess I’ll have a ramble about the first thing which comes to mind… or that I see if I close my eyes and turn my head away from my computer.
A glass. Not just any glass though. An IKEA glass, from probably one of the most iconic global brands there is. People hate it, people love it. Whichever side of the fence you are on in regards to the Swedish furniture maker and general place of plywood awesomeness, they won’t go away very easily, and as it turns out, you probably use something of theirs almost every day.
Now you might be thinking that I have gone off my nut here, writing about a company which seems to infuriate many people, but take a minute to think, or try to think about what it really is that annoys you about them. Chances are that it is because whenever you go there, the the warehouse of steam bent meatballs, everyone else in the area has decided to go too, whether it because the weather is awful and people suddenly have an urge to update their homes, or just because it is a Thursday night and you want to get away from the dog who seems to have taken a liking to your sofa when you have been out for the day.
Either way, their general philosophy is one which changed the way in which people bought furniture. Great designs and low prices is something which other companies should try and do. But for some reason, design seems to mean that they can bump up the prices. Now I’m not saying that everything should be at rock bottom prices, there are certain designery things which deserve to be the price they are because you are clearly able to see the amount of work put in by the designer and the company as a whole to make the product the best that they can make it.
Count the number of things bought in IKEA in the room you are in just now (not really doable if you are at work, preferably done at home), and of those things, for which reasons did you buy them? Because they were cheap? or because they looked good?
And whilst you are pondering that, and I am aware that some people will manage to answer that quicker than others, I’ll leave you with an epic song which I came about whilst listening to The Bitterest Pill podcast a few years ago, a song created by Jonathan Coulton, a song all about IKEA.
