Author: Sawyer

Hands-free switch

Sawyer

Materials:

  • 9 V battery
  • 1 LED
  • 1 220 Ohm resistor
  • Wire, cardboard

This switch is activated but a push. Pushing is a motion that can be performed by many parts of the body, I have tested elbow, toe and nose push on this switch. The structure of the switch is a simple barrier of cardboard that guides the power source. Upon connection with the wires, the circuit is closed and the LED lights up.

https://vimeo.com/326082330

Integration: I couldn’t integrate this switch with the Huzzah microcontroller, because this battery’s voltage is too high for Huzzah and it could fry it.

Midterm: Pomodoro Timer

Sawyer

As stated in my previous post, I attempted to build a Pomodoro productivity timer.

Equipment:

  • 1 x Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 microcontroller
  • 2 x LEDs, red and green
  • 2 x 220-ohm transistors
  • 1 x standard 16×2 LCD
  • iPhone to provide WiFi hotspot
  • Wire, etc

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to wire up the LCD, I pivoted and elected to use 2 LEDs instead, red indicating shorter break time, and green longer work time. My timer function itself is a simple loop that runs on the background. I have yet to figure out how to set up communication with the server so that the timer starts at the click of the button on the webpage. I will need to utilize a function without delay() to achieve that, and perhaps explore timer libraries for Arduino.

In demonstration videos, I left in the LCD in the breadboard setup. I will attempt to get it to work in the future.

The videos above are demonstrations of the function of the prototype and the programming.

Midterm project: Pomodoro timer

Sawyer

The Pomodoro Method (Italian: tomato) is a 40-year-old time management technique. It suggests that for maximum productivity, a person should focus on their task for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minutes break, this period of time making up one pomodoro. After 4 pomodoros, a longer, 25-minute break is permitted, after which the cycle begins again until the task is accomplished (or the person quits). There are physical devices that can be used to time pomodoros, as well as various apps. But there is a temptation when looking up an app/website, to get sidetracked, and buying a physical timer costs money. I intend to replicate the pomodoro method on a simple website, the timer activated by one button to avoid all distractions, with a physical LCD interface that provides encouraging messages and alerts the user that they can take a break/should get back to work.

First I set up a webpage with a button, using Huzzah microcontroller as the server. The start button starts the timer, the stop button stops. For easier testing, my “work” period is a minute, and “break” is 30 seconds.

Separately, I have wired up an LCD and that’s where I was stuck. All tutorials and pinouts I’ve looked up are unclear on how to wire up this kind of LCD to this kind of microcontroller. I managed to get the backlight and contrast working, but can’t run Hello World. The Learn section on Adafruit website asks for digital pin numbers on a microcontroller that I just couldn’t find on Huzzah

To finish the project: I need to integrate my two sketches so that LCD displays appropriate messages for the time slot. I also want to make the website prettier, with bigger and clearer buttons, and probably build a frame for the physical timer, to hide the breadboards and wires and only leave the LCD. It will probably look like a little box, so the user can just have it on their desk, connected through USB.

Observations

Sawyer

The Bobst Library Computer Center, at which I am employed, provides a variety of services, among which are large book scanners on every other floor of the library. Those scanners hold the first place in the ranking of things patrons complain the most about. These large machines are operated by a neighboring touchscreen, and those touchscreens are a menace. They are 20″, the screen itself is nearly unresponsive. Patrons have to put a lot of effort to push at the buttons, which is not accessible to people with limited mobility. And when we, the BLCC staff, go to the floor to look at the scanner, we have a hard time – the machines are heavy, the screens even heavier, and we have to punch in an excessive number of admin passwords and codes, which again is impeded by the size and the lack of sensitivity of the screen.

Finally, most patrons don’t even need to scan books anymore, as the number of people who use physical books in their research is getting smaller. The most that needs scanning these days are a couple loose pages of a signed document, which the smaller scanners on the first floor labs are perfectly suited for. It would make much sense to switch out at least half of the book scanners with smaller single pages scanners, and yet it seems unlikely to happen in the nearest future.