Week 14 - Final project and machine design updates




Final project updates

For my final project, I will be building an animatronic character called 'Pavlov'.

What will it do?

Pavlov will reside in physical world, but is also aware of different online activities of its owner. His behavior will somewhat depend upon that. Pavlov will respond when he receives attention, or when he thinks an intervention is necessary to keep his owner productive. All Pavlovs are connected to each other. They follow Pavlovian model to influence the behavior of each other and their owner.

Who's done what beforehand?

There has been a lot of work in the domain of animatronics and persuasive interactive technologies. I was particularly inspired by Pinokio's Lamp.

Pinokio from Pinokio on Vimeo.

What materials and components will be required?

The following materials and components will be required: Cardboard, Acrylic, 9V batteries, LEDs, light sensor, Fabduino, motor control board, stepper motors.

Where will they come from?

Almost all components will come from CBA FAB inventory for MAS.863.12 class.

How much will it cost?

It will cost <$50 for each Pavlov.

What parts and systems will be made?

Structure of Pavlov, Fabduino, motor driver board, light sensor board, Pavlov's backend application software.

What processes will be used?

CAD design of Pavlov's structure, milling for electronics production, lasercutting, embedded and application programming, networking

What tasks need to be completed?

Please see previous two sections.

What questions need to be answered?

How can Pavlov sense the interactions of its owner using light sensor circuitry?

What is the schedule?

Dec 12 - Fabduino production and testing, Dec 13 - Motor driver board production and testing, Dec 14 - Lasercutting, Dec 15, 16 - Pavlov backend, Dec 17 - Final integration, tuning and preparation of presentation.

How will it be evaluated?

For first prototype, Pavlov will be evaluated on how predectively it is responding to different interactions of its owner.

Machine design project updates

This week I worked with Shaun Salzberg to help him build a chess playing machine. I helped him in cutting some brackets (using Waterjet machine) for motor and rod mounts, in drilling out the metal shaft coupling and in assembling the wooden enclosure he already built.