In this project, two spoons are wired to either end of a circuit - one to power, the other to ground. It is inspired by the use of spoons as a musical instrument by striking them together in a rhythmic fashion; both spoons are conductive so that, when struck together, they close the circuit and thus cause an LED to light up. In this way, it adds a flashing light show to accompany the clacking of the spoons themselves.
The lower half of the spoons' handles are tied with ribbons to insulate the grip and make sure the LED only lights when the convex sides are tapped (the main musical part, not just random contact on the back end.) The light green ribbons also add a little homemade sparkle to a homemade instrument. The ribbons are taped down with basic Scotch tape, and the spoons are clipped close to the inside of the alligator clips so nothing comes loose with the kinetic force of playing the spoons.
In Catan, the robber piece can be cause for alarm. It blocks resource
production and can even steal your cards. For our unconventional switch,
placing the robber on specific hex tiles lights up an LED. Players can
think of it like a danger light. When the light turns on, the robber is
directly affecting them. Our switch can also use LEDs of different colors,
allowing for a clear distinction between players. To achieve this, our
switch uses a 5V power supply hooked up to a laptop, three alligator
clips, a 100Ω resistor, a green LED, a blue LED, a breadboard, a robber
piece from Catan wrapped in aluminum foil, and at least two hex tiles from
Catan also wrapped in aluminum foil.
This is a Multi-switch using 3 push buttons and 3 LEDs. The Pins 7-12 are used. Pin 7 controls the yellow LED 8, Pin 9 controls the green LED 10, and Pin 11 controls all LEDs( 8,10,12). The wiring uses yellow, green, and blue to associate with the specific LEDs that get turned on while avoiding colors for power and ground (black and red). The yellow LED code uses a pushbutton that turns on only when the user holds it down. The Green LED code toggles the green LED based on the previous and current button state. This turns the LED off and on when the button goes down ( not up). Finally, the blue LED code uses the same toggle code as the green one but adds a delay animation to turn the yellow, green, and blue ones on and off.
//button stuff 1 int ledPin = 8;
int buttonPin = 7;
//button stuff 2 int ledTwoPin = 10;
int buttonTwoPin = 9;
//button stuff 3
int ledThreePin = 12;
int buttonThreePin = 11;
//status being off and on bool for 2
//a lot comes from the official documentation https://docs.arduino.cc/built-in-examples/digital/StateChangeDetection/
bool status;
bool statusTwo;
// state later and new state
int previousState;
int currentState;
int previousStateTwo;
int currentStateTwo;
voidsetup(){
// put your setup code here, to run once:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(ledTwoPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buttonTwoPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(ledThreePin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buttonThreePin, INPUT_PULLUP);
previousState = 1;
previousStateTwo = 1;
Serial.begin(9600);
}
voidloop(){
YellowLED();
GreenLED();
//when the blue button is pressed do an animation of yellow green blue with delays through it
For our unconventional switch, we decided to use two cans of
soda to act as our switch. We thought it would be fun to light up an LED every
time you “cheered” with a buddy, making any hang out that much more fun! The
alligator clips are attached to each piece of tin foil on the respective can of soda, this made the transfer more conductive for better results. When the two cans of soda touch each other, the LED
lights up! Then, when the two cans of soda are pulled away from each other, the
LED turns off. There is not necessarily a practical purpose for this switch, it
is used mostly for entertainment value and for enhancing cheering to be more
eventful and momentous.
For this multi-switch assignment, I connected the Arduino board to a breadboard using the 5V and GND pins to supply power. To make the layout more organized, I bridged the power rails from one side of the breadboard to the other using jumper wires, allowing me to distribute power across both halves of the board. I placed the three buttons side by side on the breadboard. Each button is connected on one side to the positive power rail, and on the other side to a digital input pin on the Arduino to read its state. A 10kOhm resistor connects each button to ground, acting as a pull-down resistor to make the button behave as expected.
For the LEDs, I used three different colors: red, yellow, and green. Each LED is connected to a separate digital output pin on the Arduino, with the negative leg connected to ground through a 100Ohm resistor to limit current. The behavior of each LED is controlled through conditional logic in the code. The first button turns the green LED on only while the button is pressed. The second button acts as a toggle, switching the yellow LED on or off with each press. The third button controls all three LEDs by triggering a looping animation sequence..
Video Demonstration
Photos
Sketch
Schematic
Code
int buttonLastState = 0;
int buttonState = 0;
int led1on = 0;
int led2on = 0;
int led3on = 0;
int btn1 = 2;
int led1 = 8;
int led2 = 9;
int btn2 = 3;
int btn3 = 4;
int led3 = 10;
int ledSequencePlaying = 0;
voidsetup()
{
pinMode(btn1, INPUT);
pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(btn2, INPUT);
pinMode(led2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(btn3, INPUT);
pinMode(led3, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
voidloop()
{
//First Button
if (digitalRead(btn1) == HIGH) {
digitalWrite(led1, HIGH);
} else {
if(!ledSequencePlaying){
digitalWrite(led1, LOW);
}
}
//Second Button
if(digitalRead(btn2) == HIGH && buttonLastState == LOW){
This project aims to represent the connection between two people through physical touch. Through physically touching the two wire people together, the circuit completes itself to glow an LED. The design itself was meant to hide the underlying circuitry to emphasize the connection of the two wire armatures. The materials chosen were aluminum wire, a white LED, a half-sized breadboard, alligator clips, and a warm-toned wood. The aluminum wire allows the user to bend and manipulate the gestures while still allowing a current to pass through. The white LED was picked to allow higher visual contrast between the light and the dark aluminum, and metaphorically opens the work to more people; it establishes a connection as something without color. Logistically, the breadboard was used to hide the internals, while the alligator clips were the only consistent way to connect the non-solderable aluminum to the circuit. The warm-toned wood is meant to represent the warm connection created. The form of the two gestures also lacks detail, each with one arm to create a juxtaposition that the user can recognize. This is meant to lead the user tomake these two "arms" to touch.
This project transforms a plush Bulbasaur into a soft, interactive electronic interface using basic circuit design and conductive materials. A conductive necklace wrapped around the plush and alligator clips are attached to the necklace. This then connects Bulbasaur to wires on a breadboard-based circuit that includes a push-button, 9-volt power source, a USB power supply and an green LED. While the plush serves as an adorable tactile and conceptual interface. Whereas, the LED is activated when a physical button on the breadboard is pressed. Which allows users to manually trigger the system and observe the electrical response.
When the push-button on the breadboard is pressed, current flows from the 5-volt power source through the button, into the conductive necklace attached to Bulbasaur then through a resistor and LED before returning to ground. The resistor limits current to protect the LED from burning out. While the LED provides a visual signal that the circuit is active.
This project explores how soft materials--or adorable anime critters--and traditional electronics can be combined into playful, experimental interface. By connecting a plushie to a functioning electronic system, this highlights the expressive potential of physical computing and invites users to think of using everyday objects as interactive components.
