things

Throughout the week I will add information about specific objects I've made for presentation in the Orals.

This is the only page that will change after the main piece is submitted.

But for now... Here's a few of the things I've made by combining digital inputs, digital outputs and analog readings, the topics covered in this writing. These three concepts can be combined to make quite interesting objects.

'Darkbug'

The pitch produced by this little device is controlled by how dark it is in a room, uses code from annoy_o_tron.c (included in 'ATtiny code.zip') Noise is produced by pausing 0-1023 microseconds between switching the state of the transistor's pin. The transistor is capable of drawing more current than the tiny amounts that can be drawn by the output pins of the ATtiny so the buzzer can be quite loud.

... and the diagram:

I accidentally left out the pull-up resistor on the LDR so instead of making higher pitched noises as the light gets brighter, the upper threshold for when the buzzer is not making noise requires much much less light and needs to be quite dark in order to work. I found this behavior to be more interesting than the much more sensitive version so I left it in. It serves roughly as a darkness gauge rather than a brightness gauge. Lower notes mean deeper darkness. Also, the light sensor takes a while to adjust to complete darkness so the pitch drops over time quite noticeably.