P&PI PROJECT 2A PART 2 - Light Sensor

For this project, we had to use a combination of the breadboard circuit + the Arduino/Processing software to create/build a dynamic visualisation of information read from an analog sensor. Afterwards, we had to modify the code so that the design, such as the strokes and colours, would be styled differently.

I was not able to understand what an analog sensor was or how to get/build it. However I did understand that if I was able to correct this properly, I should be able to build a circuit that can create a visual representation of the amount of light in the room. It would act like a sonar and would react differently depending on the amount of light that would shine on the sensor. It would create longer lines the more light there was and smaller to no lines the darker it is.

I tried following the example pictures and programming as best as I could. Although after wiring the breadboard circuit and connecting the 5V wire, I noticed that in the example it was clearly labeled '+5V'. I was unable to understand the difference that the posistive symbol would make, but I was sure it would have a hand in this connection not working.

Once I inputed all the code, I uploaded/ran the program. The was an error in the arduino code, but unfortunately I was unable to understand it. The only graph design that appeared was a dot. The lack of lines and placement of the dot lead me to believe that it is unable to see any light. I knew at that point that it was because I was missing some sort of analog sensor. I tried messing around with the circuit and the only notable change was that once I took out the resistor, the graph started the sonar by showing lines, but at full strength. Meaning I removed the part that enables accurate measure.

Video result of my FIRST attempt --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiBnU1ULOuk&feature=youtu.be

I am pleased to say that I finally got it working after being stuck on it for 2 weeks. I didn't realise that all the resistors had different values. I thought that they were all the same and I was using the wrong one. So I switched it for the proper resistor and I got it to finally recognize light.

Video of the Completed Result --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvg26PvIq6w&feature=youtu.be

Once I completed the original task, my next task was to modify into into a different style. I knew what I was going to do with this because I messed around with star radius's during my time in graphic design. You can see from the image below that I modified the map size to allow a larger image. I also changed the size of the stroke, the speed of the angle and the frame rate to allow space. Like I expected, by concelling the light sensor in darkness and slowly raising my hands to shine light, I was able to create a star pattern. Of which, you can see below from my screenshot and video result of the modified version.

Video of the MODIFIED VERSION'S Result --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo3hjtdBlbc&feature=youtu.be