The last four weeks we've been working on our final project for this semester. Our main assignment was to create a new interactive product with one input and one output by using arduino, electronics and the knowledge we've gained so far. I decided to mainly work with water by using a liquid pump as an output. I struggled a bit with deciding the input, but after some brainstorming and sketching I decided to use a magnetic sensor.
The code for this project wasn't that complicated, so fortunately I didn't experience a lot of frustration on that end. However I realized that working with water and electronics can be really challenging. The testing of my product always took a while since I had to fill the fountain up with water and then empty it every time. Also I had to frequently check that nothing leaked and be sure that all the electronics were kept dry. Just to build the whole thing and put it together constantely brought up new problems. Looking back on my process I should have simplified my fountain even more.
Water: I tried to focus on the movement and the capabilities of water and to use this to create an interesting construction. The rectangular shape in the middle of the fountain for instance floats according to the waterlevel creating an additional movement. As mentioned in a previous post I wanted the water to flow over an edge and then further as raindrops hitting the water surface in the lower box. The sound of the water dripping combined with its movement provided a desired relaxing feeling.
Optimatelly I would like my fountain to be cylinder shaped with round forms instead of the sharp square forms that it consists of now. But because of the materials and prize I had to make a compromize. Also I would like to build a bigger fountain and hide the liquid pump.
The last days of finishing my product were really hectic which resulted in long nights at school. Finally the project has reached it's end, and I'm glad that the electronics works without any water leaking!
theartofmadeline
gummygunk