This blog was originally created for a computation arts class, Tangible Media and Physical Computing, but I like the posts here and have decided to continue it as my personal blog. I plan to keep posting about projects I am working on as well as interesting tech/art. In the mean time check out my updated projects page at prockwell.com.
This project marks the creation of our second lightsuit, designed to be used with long exposure photographs and video to create trails of light. The suit is lined with conductive velcro that allows us to place LEDs in any number of configurations across its surface. Two Lilypad Arduinos control power across the negative velcro strips, modulating 10 different light groups - 2 on each limb and 2 on the torso. The suit is powered by a battery pack that attachs to the belt of the performer and outputs a considerable amount of current so we can place any number of LEDs on the body. We plan to experiment with the many possibilities that the suit gives us, ranging from the programming of the Arduinos to create new patterns of light, to the positions of LEDs on the body, to the performance environment in order to reach the most interesting results.
testing shots:
early sketches and schematic:
Trace is a collaboration between Nicolas Munoz and Peter Rockwell to create to create a suit that emphasizes a performers movement through space. The suit was originally conceived as a costume used to enhance live performances through the use of LEDs embedded across its surface. We created a prototype version last semester which used 92 LEDs positioned in a formation that emphasizes and warps the human form, attached to a jumpsuit that the performer would wear. The prototype suit had no microcontroller but used two flex sensors attached to the elbow joints to modulate the resistance across the circuit, allowing the performer to control the brightness of the LEDs by flexing his arms. We experimented with the proto-suit by taking it to a derelict environment where the illumination emanating from the suit can play with the visually rich surroundings and documented it with video and photographs. What we discovered is that through the use of long-exposure photography we can create amazing traces of light created from the movement of the performer. These traces chart the trajectory of the performers body through space, amplifying the minute and chaotic and movements that happen. Concentrating on this effect is our reason to create a second suit that will extend
Our original plans for the new suit included wireless communication through XBEEs, accelerometers positioned across the body and multiple AVR units but we have realized that this technology will not help us with our goal. Instead our approach has changed to building a modular, customizable suit where the lighting arrangement can be changed on the fly. To do this we are using strips of conductive velcro (or velcro laced with conductive thread) sown in positive and negative channels to the surface of the suit. Then LEDs extended with small conductive velcro patches can be placed at will between the velcro strips. This is important because it allows us to experiment with many different configurations and numbers of LEDs to find the most interesting patterns of light. An Arduino is also being added, controlling the ground lines of each negative velcro strip, giving us pulse width modulation and different sensor possibilities. Another important improvement to the suit will be in its flexibility and durability. Our last suit suffered extensively from connections that would break under the strain of rigorous movement so a main goal in the design of a new suit is to withstand a great deal of stress. Designing a "lightuit" with intense movement in mind is a unique aspect of our piece that is not characterized in many other lightsuit projects.
SEEKBOTS is a collaboration with Nicolas Munoz for the Communicate project. The idea is to create two robots, one which can move but has no sensors to find its way while the other uses an ultrasonic rangefinder to scan its surroundings but is immobile. The goal is for the moving "Seeker" robot to locate and unite with the "Beacon" robot. The robots communicate through XBee transceivers so that the Beacon can call out to the Seeker, telling it if its going closer or farther away.
The communication is primitive yet effective - every time the Beacon detects the Seeker it compares the new distance reading with its last reading. To be able to detect the Seeker the beacon spends a couple rotations when it is first turned on to calibrate to its surroundings, finding the closest position which should be ignored. Anything within this max distance is considered to be the Seeker robot and then Beacon will send out a signal to it. If the distance between the robots is decreasing a "1" is sent indicating to the Seeker to remain on course. If the Beacon detects the Seeker to be moving farther away then it sends a "0" and the Seeker will reverse direction. If two reverse directions signals are sent in the space of four communications the Seeker will make a 45 degree turn and restart the procedure.
In the photographs below are some long exposure shots of the robots in action where LEDs in their circuits leave trails of light. You can see some of the movement patterns that the Seeker makes on its journey to the Beacon, unfortunately a max exposure time of 15s was not enough to see the robot complete its travel in most of these shots.
SEEKBOTS from Peter Rockwell on Vimeo.
For my Animate project I created what I am calling a stereolumiscope. It consists of two tubes lined with LEDs that illuminate in interesting patterns. The tubes separate eyesight into stereo showing different light patterns to each eye which plays with the viewer's sense of vision. The Arduino connects with the LEDs through 2 shift registers that allow it to maximize the number of LEDs it can individually control.
code.
I don't have a concrete idea for the animate project yet but I am imagining a project that uses LEDs and EL wire to play with the persistence of vision. Electroluminescent wire (EL wire) is a is a thin copper wire coated in phosphor that glows when an electric charge is sent through it. It's an interesting material because unlike LEDs which create a series of points, EL wire creates a 360 degree unbroken line of visible light.
inspirations:
Light Drive from Kim Pimmel on Vimeo.
From the crumbling remains of my first idea which failed miserably (never think you can do a project with a substance named "blurp") came a better and more intricate one. My new project: The Mystery Box, still experiments with malleable conductive substances but now allows user participation. It is a puzzle that requires you to discover and mold a series of patterns with Play-Doh in order to unlock the secrets within. Except there is no treasure yet - just an LED that lights up... but you can imagine!
Link to code (it could be better but works): http://prockwell.com/cart360/MysteryBox.pde
Note: I used the Arduino button tutorial as my starting point for circuit and code: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Button
Mystery Box from Peter Rockwell on Vimeo.
Mystery Box from Peter Rockwell on Vimeo.
Here are a selection of materials that were found conductive through testing with a multimeter:
1. DryDex Spackling: 17.06 (200k)
2. Crest Toothpaste: ~1.6 (2M)
3. Egg: 9.2 (200k)
4.Water: 57 (200k) vs Salt Water: 15 (200k)
5. Course molding paste: 18 (200k) or spread out: 172 (2M)
I was inspired to take this course after working on a project for CART 412 last semester. The project titled Derelict was a collaboration between Nicolas Munoz, Kevin Lee and myself to create an LED enhanced performance that would interact with and reveal its environment. To do this we created a "lightsuit" with flex sensors on the inner sides of each elbow that affect power to the LEDs depending on how extended the performers arms are. We took the lightsuit to an abandoned building in St. Henri and documented the performance with photographs and video. The final video was edited to a soundtrack composed by Julien Stein.
