Travis Goodspeed, Arjan Scherpenisse, Fabienne Serriere

multithreaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D Extreme

a bayeux tapestry for 2010

Welcome to the Multithreaded Banjo Dinosaur Knitting Adventure 2D Extreme!, a retro style video game with banjos and dinosaurs with winners' panels printed by a knitting machine. It was conceived and built by Travis Goodspeed, Arjan Scherpenisse, and Fabienne Serriere during Mediamatic's 5 day long DevCamp10 in November 2010 in Amsterdam.

Scroll down the first batch of photos to read more about it!

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travis beat arjan - the test printout for game wins! Fabienne Serriere

Source code and photos

We are working on more extensive documentation, but in the meantime, here is our source code and our photos and our build log (in text here below):

the svn repository:

svn checkout svn://svn.mediamatic.nl/devcamps/camp10/banjo banjo

source code in trac: http://trac.mediamatic.nl/devcamps/browser/camp10/banjo

travis' pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisgoodspeed/sets/72157625341543667/

fabienne's pics here: http://fbz.smugmug.com/All/nov-2010/

arjan's pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acscherp/sets/72157625369391595/

day 4

we hacked the button matrix of the knitting machine by beeping out the rows (4) and columns (10) on the circuit to control the 39 buttons on the control panel of the kh-930 knitting machine. the buttons are then controlled remotely by microcontroller. this means we can remotely load patterns and queue them up on the machine. our video game is advancing wonderfully, with arjan building a scrolling background, thomas designed some lovely obstacles and updated the background graphics for the game. travis designed the circuit for the button pushing keypad emulator and updated the software scripts for controlling the knitting machine. we started experimenting with using a drill to control the mechanics of the sled on the knitting machine.

day 3

travis got the hardware done for the dongle to emulate the tandy external floppy
drive, and got the knitting machine to talk to the computer. arjan rounded out his software for the avatar editor (16 x 16 pixels for users to create their avatar for the game). and we gained a team member to help us with designing background pixel art and dinosaurs for our game. fabienne did some test knits for width, and we decided on 64 knit stitches wide for the final piece. we came up with a design to help the knitting be displayed, it will roll up to the ceiling. we documented the button pushes required to talk to the computer, and on day 4 will hack the button matrix to have this be automated as well.

day 2

we obtained a Brother KH-930 without the motorized sled for multiple colors, but with a color changer and a motorized picking for one color (garter stitch sled) from the North of Holland. included was a stand and an extra comb and a kajillion books and lots of cones of wool and a yarn ball winder :) we did a preliminary non-computer controlled knitting test.

day 1

some preliminary research links:

Becky Stern and Limor Fried's Brother KH-930e hacking http://ladyada.net/learn/electroknit/

list of local knitting machines being sold on marktplaats

all electronic (non-punch card) brother knitting machines support the tandy external drive and thus the emulator link

Compatible Brother Models KH930, KH940, KH950i, KH965i & KH970

and another link about electronic brother models

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banjo dinosaur half scarf :) - a banjo dinosaur printathon! Fabienne Serriere

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zombie gotcha knit - travis' game zombie gotcha title page "printed" with the brother kh-930 This is Travis' "game zombie gotcha" title page, 'printed' with the Brother kh-930 knitting machine. Part of the multi threaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D extreme!!! Dev camp 2010, Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam. Fabienne Serriere

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banjo playing dinosaur - knitting adventure Fabienne Serriere

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knit_history_sketch - knit history first sketch

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Brother kh-930 knitting machine - This is the knitting machine used for the multi threaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D extreme!!! Dev camp 2010, Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam. Fabienne Serriere

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knitting machine and extra parts - Fabienne Serriere

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brother kh-930 electronic knitting machine - Fabienne Serriere

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multicolor manual knitting - Fabienne Serriere

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threaded for four color knitting - ready to knit in four colors Fabienne Serriere

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winning banner - the graphics for this knit banner is automatically derived from the winners of the 8bit video game providing a permanent record of the game over the time of the exhibit. Fabienne Serriere

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Knitting game, winners banner - hanging bar for the knit banner to loop over on the ceiling The multi threaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D extreme!!! These are the knitted avatars of the winning players. Dev camp 2010, Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam. Fabienne Serriere

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direction controls for the game - controls for the game, you control it with your rfid tag physically moving over the arrows. Fabienne Serriere

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rfid readers for direction controls - rfid readers for direction controls under the table for the game play Fabienne Serriere

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electronics boxed - the extra electronics: board for tandy fdd emulation (red) and transistor button pushing board (green) in a project box mounted to the back of the knitting machine. Fabienne Serriere

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winners banner in gallery display - the winners banner knit to the ceiling and back down from the knitting machine. Fabienne Serriere

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avatar creation station - create your avatar on this touch screen by logging in with your rfid. your avatar is printed on the winners' banner in knitting if you win. Fabienne Serriere

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avatar on avatar creation station - a finished avatar on the avatar creation station. Fabienne Serriere

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arjan and luis play the game with their rfid tags - arjan and luis play the game with their rfid tags Fabienne Serriere

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winning the game - when you win the game a winner's square scrolls up the screen towards the knitting machine and queued to be printed on the knitting machine. Fabienne Serriere

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Winners panel on the knitting machine - the winners' panels streaming out of the knitting machine toward the ceiling This is the knitting machine used in the multi threaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D extreme!!! Dev camp 2010, Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam. Fabienne Serriere

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the whole exhibit - multithreaded banjo dinosaur knitting aventure 2d extreme in the exhibit at mediamatic Fabienne Serriere

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extra circuits on the knitting machine - the serial control circuit for floppy disk emulation (red) and the button matrix control circuit (green) Fabienne Serriere

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fabienne reversing the keypad mapping - Fabienne Serriere

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avatar editor - the avatar editor that you then play in the video game Fabienne Serriere

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thanks david carne - Thanks to David Carne for correcting the druken misuse of transistors!!! Fabienne Serriere

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hacking the button pad of the kh-930 - tapping into the rows (4), ground (1), and columns (10) to control the button pad of the kh-930 remotely with a microcontroller. Fabienne Serriere

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button matrix encodings kh-930 - the encodings for the button matrix on the kh-930 knitting machine Fabienne Serriere

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bottom of the button board - circuit board scan of the bottom of the button pad on the kh-930 knitting machine Fabienne Serriere

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bottom of the button board, under ribbon cables - scan of the button circuit on kh-930 knitting machine, showing underneath the ribbon cable Fabienne Serriere

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bottom of button board, annotated - scan of the bottom of the button board on kh-930 annotated. D2-D11 are the columns of the button matrix, on pins 16-7 of larger ribbon cable. four pins on the smaller ribbon cable are the rows for the button matrix. Fabienne Serriere

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kh930 circuit - the circuit in the kh930 Fabienne Serriere

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knitting machine hardware dongle - This is the knitting machine used in the multi threaded banjo dinosaur knitting adventure 2D extreme!!! Dev camp 2010, Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam. Fabienne Serriere

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snapshot from brother kh-930 knitting machine manual - snapshot from brother kh-930 e knitting machine manual just hold down the Data Key continuously :) Fabienne Serriere

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banjo dinosaur knit - our first computer controlled knit piece: a banjo playing dinosaur Fabienne Serriere

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banjo playing dinosaur - banjo playing dinosaur Fabienne Serriere

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flower knit pattern - Fabienne Serriere