CONCEPT 1:
For my final project, I wanted to create some sort of animatronic animal. Since the final project has a heavier emphasis on form, I wanted my project to resemble the animal, but not attempt to be an accurate representation.
My first thought was to make a quadruped with servos, but I was encouraged to draw back. Upon some research, I decided I either wanted to make a bird or a whale. I was mostly inspired by this animatronic Macaw by Johnny Pool:
Ok this is a very extreme example of what I'd like to accomplish. My bird would be stationary and when a user approaches it, it would turn away and ruffle it's "feathers". The "bird" would sense someone near it using a PIR sensor and then trigger the servo motor to turn it's head away. The "ruffling" of feathers would happen also via servo motors near the birds shoulders.
Materials
Arduino UNO
servo motors
PIR sensors
camera(potentially)
wood scrap(bass)
CONCEPT 2:
I want to find a good way to incorporate lighting with clothing. To begin, I thought about how a person could interact with such a device and how it could be used in conjunction with lighting. Having played around with proximity alot in the past, I was less likely to choose to use it again. For this project I was interested in touch as a sense. So depending where a user touches the garment, it will respond by with light spawning from that point.
My plan is to use capacitive touch sensors to detect where the user is coming into contact with the garment to trigger the LEDs to spawn outward from that point. The LEDs would be arranged in a grid and fastened on the inside of the garment.
Materials:
Arduino UNO
multiplexer (likely multiple)
LEDS (a sh*t ton)/ fiber optics (potentially)
simple garment
capacitive touch sensors
Plan B: In case I can't get the touch sensors working, I'd attach the LED "lattice" to a photoresistor/light sensor. In the absense of light, the garment will pulse.
why fiber optics?
They’re easy to work with and simply incorporated. The point of this line is integrate lighting with clothing in a trendy and aesthetically pleasing way. Fiber optics carry the potential to be utilized as prints and also draw attention to subtler details.
The line juxtaposes loose form with drawstrings and elastic to create unique oversized silhouettes. The integration of fiber optics are intended to strengthen the looks, not distract.
