So it’s been a while since I posted about the Physical Computing labs, but I wanted to document my progress with my attempt at creating something a bit more interesting than a potentiometer dimming an LED.
Lab 3 had us using a variable resistor to perform an action. So, I took my digital chopsticks and turned the aluminum-tip switches into a variable resistor! I used a voltage divider circuit to test the voltage of the item being held by the chopsticks. Thus, if the chopsticks were being used to hold metal, the “holding” LED would both be triggered…but only if it reached a certain threshold. The purpose is to test the theory that sushi has a certain level of conducivity, and I may be able to set the threshold to the level of sushi to trigger another action…
SERVOS! Lab 4 had us using a servo with the variable resistor. I thought about what I could do, and it seems that the servo would be a perfect solution for an automated soy sauce dispenser:
I had a tough time with this assignment…mostly due to the loop() method. My desired action was to have the servo perform a full cycle of its motion (pour then reset) once triggered, but I found it extremely difficult to keep it from stopping mid-pour or resetting prematurely if the Arduino did not detect a high enough voltage at the tops…such as when you let go of a conductive item. I eventually got it to work (mostly), as you can see.