This blog is a follow up to my "Parts!" blog.
Prototyping is an essential process for any electronics build. Prototyping helps you test your designs and troubleshoot problem circuits before you commit your design to a circuit board.
These two prototypes are based on the Arduino Platform, which is great for prototyping. First we have a small implementation of Conway's Game of Life. The game of life if a simulation of organic cells. Each grid square (or pixel) represents a cell. An 'on' cell represents a living cell and an 'off' cell represents a dead cell. Several cells are populated on the grid, and then they live or die according to a set of rules:
- Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies, as if caused by underpopulation.
- Any live cell with more than three live neighbors dies, as if by overcrowding.
- Any live cell with two or three live neighbors lives on to the next generation.
- Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell.
These rules can generate some interesting patterns (which in a way represent larger organisms)
The goal in this prototype is to test another Arduino User's code that generates the Game of Life on an 8x8 LED grid. It was a success!
The next step in this project will be to interface the game with different input - that way the action the user takes will determine what cells should turn on at the beginning to start the game. This will make it so a different game is generated for each different action a user takes.
This next project combines the Ping Ultrasonic Sensor from my last post with the Arduino to make an interactive circuit. From affar, you see three small globes of light. If you observe them for long enough you'll realize that they are pulsing - they are very slowly fading in an out. As you approach the setup, something happens - the pulsating quickens! Every step you takes causes the lights to pulsate faster and faster!
As you've probably figured out by know, the ultrasonic sensor is picking up your position, relative to the lights. As you close the gap between you and the lights, the sensor reports to the arduino that an object is approaching. The arduino in turn makes the lights pulse at a faster rate. (Fun fact: The LED lights aren't actually pulsating. LEDs only have two states -on or off - so they can't 'dim' their light output. The glowing is simulated by turning the LED on for a fraction of a second, and then turning it off, and repeating the process. To the human eye we see a 'dimmed' version of the light, but it's really all an illusion!)
The Game of life project has a long way to go before I can have a final product, but the glowing lights are ready to go into production. In the future I'll detail the process that will make them a finished product.
I'd love to hear your questions or anything else you'd like to say in the comments below!