Construction time!

http://www.mediamatic.net/id/22878 2009-10-17T04:05:52+02:00 Construction time! Mediamatic RFID & Physical Computing Hackers Camp @ Picnic 07

Projects are ready to be prototyped and build. This monday all participants are working individually or with a small number of people on parts of the projects. You might think a “hackers camp” only includes hardware and software hacking and tweaking. Today there was however some old style building going on with hammers and saws. Transforming our hackers into wood hackers.

The <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/artefact-22730-en.html">Photo Booth</a> team had some delays waiting for crucial material to arrive. The time was spend usefully fine-tuning and redesigning their project before the actual build. Measuring the most optimal distance for the camera position in the booth for optimal framing is crucial to know before construction. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22885/en/measuring"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/718/22885-400-268.jpg" height="268" width="400" alt="" title="measuring" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - measuring - Mediamatic.net" href="/22885/en/measuring">measuring</a> PICNIC related conferences are already starting downstairs. This means loud building activities have to be relocated or wait till later in the evening to start building... <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-10379-en.html">Timo</a> , <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-22234-en.html">Einar</a> and <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-22262-en.html">Anne</a> descide to work "on location" and build the Photo Booth up in the entrance hall of PICNIC where their project will be located. While <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-22235-en.html">Jørn</a> is programming the backside of Photo Booth in the camp. If anyone was wondering if it was buildable, the Photo Booth is drawed out IKEA-style. Well measured ready made parts, quickly to assemble. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22832/en/boothy-jpg"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/473/22832-400-281.jpg" height="281" width="400" alt="" title="Boothy.jpg" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - Boothy.jpg - Mediamatic.net" href="/22832/en/boothy-jpg">Boothy.jpg</a> They did have some unexpected luck as well. First they found this nice picnic carpet in a container dumpster. It is exactly what they need for their project. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22883/en/picnic-carpet"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/205/22883-267-400.jpg" height="400" width="267" alt="" title="Picnic carpet" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - Picnic carpet - Mediamatic.net" href="/22883/en/picnic-carpet">Picnic carpet</a> Secondly, the Photo booth designers are swapping skills with programmers <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-9697-en.html">Andy</a>, <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-18738-en.html">Mika</a> and <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-22238-en.html">Erik</a>. The designers will make the enclosure for the lights. The programmers will do the programming part of the Photo Booth. What needs to be done by programmers is also nicely drawn out in a sketch. Red means they need help! <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22783/en/2007-september-22-22-34-11-jpg"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/645/22783-400-250.jpg" height="250" width="400" alt="" title="2007-September-22-22.34.11.jpg" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - 2007-September-22-22.34.11.jpg - Mediamatic.net" href="/22783/en/2007-september-22-22-34-11-jpg">2007-September-22-22.34.11.jpg</a> <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/artefact-22746-en.html">Exit Poll</a> is on schedule. The software is almost done and the parts almost ready. Tomorrow they will be ready to assemble. Andy is making sure the votes read by the RFID reader identify the RFID badge and feed this data into the database. They are however not really sure what more data to input to the database and what to do with it. This still needs some thinking. Mika is doing the programming for the lights and connecting it to arduino. So your vote will make lights stronger, weaker, different according to the number of votes they got. Andy connected three RFID readers representing the voting options for the visitors to the database. “It’s a musical instrument” he says, it bleeps and lights up when a tag is read. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22892/en/it-s-a-musical-instrument"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/961/22892-270-360.jpg" height="360" width="270" alt="" title="It's a musical instrument" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - It's a musical instrument - Mediamatic.net" href="/22892/en/it-s-a-musical-instrument">It's a musical instrument</a> Andy happy with his glass because it makes such a nice sound, “who00ooAang” <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22900/en/andy-is-happy-with-his-acryl-glass"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/668/22900-267-400.jpg" height="400" width="267" alt="" title="Andy is happy with his acryl glass" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - Andy is happy with his acryl glass - Mediamatic.net" href="/22900/en/andy-is-happy-with-his-acryl-glass">Andy is happy with his acryl glass</a> <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/artefact-22745-en.html">Data Traces</a> is prototyped and most of the individual parts are working. The gossip generating coffee table only needs to be assembled in the actual object. A digital prototype can be viewed at <a href="http://www.donblaauw.nl/blog/index.htm">Don's blog</a>. Don't forget to scroll down! <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22822/en/coffee-close-jpg"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/347/22822-400-310.jpg" height="310" width="400" alt="" title="coffee-close.jpg" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - coffee-close.jpg - Mediamatic.net" href="/22822/en/coffee-close-jpg">coffee-close.jpg</a> Tim is expecting to be finished tonight with the hardware in his Connection Cushion. There are already some things vibrating, sound can be recorded with a hacked Albert Heijn bonus microphone (he got it half price off!). <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22898/en/ah-bonus-mic"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/688/22898-360-270.jpg" height="270" width="360" alt="" title="AH bonus mic" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - AH bonus mic - Mediamatic.net" href="/22898/en/ah-bonus-mic">AH bonus mic</a> Nadya and Tim connecting... <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22899/en/nadya-and-tim-connecting"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/459/22899-360-270.jpg" height="270" width="360" alt="" title="Nadya and Tim connecting" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - Nadya and Tim connecting - Mediamatic.net" href="/22899/en/nadya-and-tim-connecting">Nadya and Tim connecting</a> The firmware for the Connection Cushion and Racket Reader are constructed by Melanie and Johannes. They are connecting RFID readers with arduino’s for mobile readers. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/22895/en/johannes-solders"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/872/22895-270-360.jpg" height="360" width="270" alt="" title="Johannes solders" playable="1"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - Johannes solders - Mediamatic.net" href="/22895/en/johannes-solders">Johannes solders</a> Tonight at 2.00 hours there were still some teams working on their projects. Tomorrow the projects will be fine-tuned at our new location at Zuiveringshal Oost, also at the Westergasfabriek. Esther Weltevrede http://www.mediamatic.net/id/22711 ARTICLE 1