The epic journey in the creation of Frank continues...
After finalizing the melody the few days before, I felt confident coming into the Support session and finalizing my project. That was, until, it came to bringing Frank to life. Frank cost all of about £3 at Morrisons, so his construction was rudimentary but required tools that thankfully were in the studio, such as a very tiny screw driver. The first issue with the actual construction of the object was that the jaw drooped open even after being closed. I started by essentially forcing pieces of electrical tape where the jaw connected, which didn't work the way I needed it to. So I sat and stared at it for a good long while, contemplating my life and my decisions, and then noticed the screws. I grabbed the little screwdriver and hesitantly (temporarily) decapitated Frank. As he sat headless, I noticed that there were screws inside the head as well. Those ended up not being helpful, but figuring out that the bottom jaw popped off the plastic posts it was attached to was.
The next step was creating the sensors. Originally, I was going to use crocodile clips, but they were simply just too big to fit in the small space between top and bottom jaw. I wrapped the teeth in copper tape, instead of tin foil which wouldn't stick as well. The next step was resolving the jaw droop issue, which was as simple as wrapping electrical tape around the plastic jaw posts and muscling it back in. Admittedly, I felt guilty doing this, but I had to remind myself that this is an inanimate object. I blame my object empathy on "Brave Little Toaster".
Before reattaching bottom to top jaw, I wired the jump wires in, right behind the front teeth. I used white and light grey wires to make them as discreet as possible. In there lies the conundrum: how to keep them discreet.
Remember the screws I was mentioned earlier? I very hesitantly started to remove them, hoping against hope that I didn't just ruin my idea. After I relieved Frank of his screws, with some effort, he came apart in two. Within the neck bones, there was enough space that I could wedge the wires in to hide them a bit. It was a tight squeeze and there is a bit of a gap that I don't care for, but that could easily be remedied by filling it with something or hiding it behind electrical tape. The wires were hanging from the rib cage, so I tucked those up and secured them with white electrical tape. Had I had the forethought, I would had used white blutack but I used what I had on hand. I tried to keep it looking as aesthetic as possible by molding the copper tape between the teeth to retain the shape. What I discovered as I went along was that one layer of tape wasn't enough to act as a sensor, so I ended up having to add several more, which actually worked in my favor because it helped keep the jaw closed.
The final steps were then to wire the Arduino and check to see if it all works. As it says in my notes, "initial setup: FAIL." I scoured my code, searched for errors in my wiring, checked the connectivity and couldn't fathom where I'd gone wrong. I went back to the basic setup and discovered that I was missing a wire. I placed the wire where it needed to go, and Frank came to life. I had changed the delay between plays from 1000 to 2500, but realized this was far too long between the plays so I changed it back to 1000. The other thing I toyed around with was the int pause = noteDuration function. It was originally set for 1.3 which was a little too fast, so I added .2, which ended up being just that little bit too slow, and tried 1.4 which was the Goldilocks number. Considering I figured out each note by ear, I was pretty impressed with how close the actual melody sounds to the original. It's not perfect, but it is close enough to impress myself. Below, you will see Frank, in all of hid glory, in action.
Today we had Review, and I jotted down some closing thoughts. One of the suggestions was that I should add the copper tape to all of the teeth for the sake of continuity and aesthetics, or somehow hide it behind something tooth colored. I might add more copper tape because the idea that Frank has a grill is just too funny to me not to. There were a few other options for things I could do, like add longer connecting wires, add other melodies, add touch sensors to his hands, feet, head, to add some variety. I could also keep the setup as is but add randomized melodies. The thing with projects like this is that the sky is really the limit and the possibilities are truly endless when you add creative minds to it. I think for me, though, keeping it within my abilities and not trying to go overboard or reinvent the wheel, as they say, is my best option for success. Could I have done all of those things, like adding touch sensors and other melodies, of course. Would it have made things too complicated for my to understand? Probably. I would rather have a sleek, straightforward presentation that is easily set up and operated, than trying to go crazy and either have it not work or not work the way I want it to, or even worse, not understand why it works. Someone earlier said, "I like how streamlined it is," and at first I didn't quite understand what they meant. But the more I looked at Frank the more I realized how streamline he is, considering the challenge of hiding wires and constructing him in the first place. And also considering 2 weeks ago, I had no idea I could do this. I feel a sense of pride that fuels the little fire in my soul, the whole reason I came back to school in the first place: to learn, to grow, and to display those things in deliverables.
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