RSSI Measurements

A number of measurements were made today to determine the threshold for the maximum distance between the eMoodies. The XBee modules can detect the signals and give an indicator of how far away the other modules are through RSSI (received signal strength indicator). Two eMoodies were used, Cory and Steve .These values were observed today during the RSSI-testing:

Distance (in cm) | RSSI:

250 | 62
130 | 55-56
95 | 56-62
70 | 46
50 | 43-45
30 | 43-46

The RSSI values varied and were hard to distinguish from certain distances. After a discussion, the threshold was set to be 54 RSSI. If an eMoodie senses that the signal is > 54, it is classified as being “far away”, otherwise it is classified as being nearby.

eMoodies – naked(!)

Here are two pictures showing the inside of an eMoody and how they all look without their textiles.

Cory is cranky and alone

During the inital phase of the final testing Cory became a bit cranky and ran off. I later found him on the couch and decided to cheer him up.

Meeting 22-25, 15.04.2009 – 20.04.2009

Sorry for the lack of new posts. The reasons for this have been a heavy work load annd the easter holiday.

The hardware for all eMoodies have been completed and the cushions are almost finished.

More pictures and images will soon be added. And of course the website!

It’s alive (sort of)!

Due to a very heavy workload there hasn’t been much posting here lately. Instead of describing what we have accomplished since the last post just watch the following video.

The sewing of the cushions will start next week.

Second picture!

Here is a picture of an improved version of the circuit in the last picture.

Now everything is powered using batteries!

First picture!

Here is the first picture showing some rough wiring of the mouth of one of our eMoodies. This shows one of the 10 possible smiles that we have enabled.

With some simple modifications to this circuit the Arduino microcontroller and the rest of the circuit could be powered using only batteries. But when taking this picture we were to lazy, hence the unnecessary wires

Meeting 21 – 25.03.2009

Research about color and texture has been made for discussing the design choices of the eMoodies’ colors and character of their textiles.

Textile samples were collected  on March 9th and tested with our LEDs. We found some fabrics that would be suitable for the eMoodies.

The discussion lead to the following design decisions:

• Mary will have a soft and yellow fabric.
• Cory will have a blue, shiny and thin fabric
• Steve will have a black, fuzzy and unruly fabric

 

Textiles were purchased today at Myrins Textil and Panduro in Gothenburg.

Meetings 17,18,19 & 20 18.03-23.03.2009

During the last week we have been very busy but have also managed to get a lot of work done.

The control circuit is operational.

The vibrating motor is fully operational.

The accelerometer is fully operational.

Through the Arduino microcontroller we now know exactly now how to control the LEDs of an eMoody’s face. The programming concerning this is not yet, however, finished yet.

Textiles have been purchased.

More information about the status of the mood cahnging software will be posted soon with several images of circuits, textiles and so on.

Meeting 16 – 16.03.2009

During today’s session a wide range of work was done.

Different speakers were tested and a piezo element proved to be perfect for makign an eMoody produce sounds if such an output will be used.

A microphone from an older project was tested for audio input and worked perfectly. Code for detection of sounds such as items dropping, doors slamming and hands clapping were written and will be used.

An accelerometer was tested more thoroughly and problems occured. The potential solution might disable the data transfers and a proper evaluation is needed. More information will be posted.

The circuit for the LED face was finished and the segments were tested (without using the epxression changing routine on the Arduino).

A restart was made on our moode changing routine. In its first iteration it will only focus on distance between the other eMoodies and which of them there is who is sending. Much more information will be posted soon.

On wednesday textiles will be purchased and research on peoples relationships to shapes and form will be done.

We also performed a peer review of another group’s design document and will receive feedback on our own soon.

We’ll meet again at 10.00 on wednesday and thursday.