User:Tjaw94/ENES 100/project 1

Project Preference

 * Useless Box
 * Makerbot
 * escher

Problem Statement
The project we will be working on is designing a Useless Box. The Useless Box is to complete various tasks which do nothing for anyone. It is a box that that completes random tasks that are programmed in the Arduino.

Project Plan
In the next few weeks we will be researching on how to use an Arduino. We will be learning to how to program motors, lights and other fun things to the Arduinio. We will also be building a box for the useless box to reside in. Also, we will be designing the shape of the box so that the box will hold all of our actions we want it to do.

Week 1
This week I researched on how to use an Arduino. It was my first time playing with an Arduino and I found that writing a program has to be very specific. I found that there are different brands of Arduino's that run differently in the Arduino programming system on the computer. I also found that their is a website called Ardunino.cc which helps with downloading the operating system and helps with programming. I also created a basic program to get a light on the Arduino board to turn on for a second and turn off for a second. I was just playing around to get familiar with the program. At first, I had trouble getting the Arduino to respond to the program because the computer number was not matching with the Arduino board. I eventually got it to start working. I found a website which helps with programming called Ladyada.net. This website is a tutorial on how to program different types of electrical components such as lights, buttons, motors, buzzers, etc.

Week 2
This week I learned how a buzzer is programmed onto an Arduino. I also learned that the Arduinos can not play frequencies lower than 31 Hz. They can play all the way up to about 10000 Hz. I also learned that when I buzzer is going off it can change frequencies and go from 31 Hz up to about 10000 Hz. The Arduinos also only use the measurements in Hertz for sound. Also you can not program more than one buzzer at a time or it will ignore the second buzzer.

Week 3
This week i designed a shape for our box to see how the motor, breadboard, and arduino would fit in the box. I determined that a jewelry box would be a good size for our useless box. Also Cutting little slits in the box where the opening is would help cause less friction and it would make it easier for the arm to open and turn the switch off. I also thought that we would have to drill a hole in order for the switch to be outside of the box and it would make it more presentable. I also thought of putting the buzzer inside the box to make a noise that one would not expect to hear when the switch is turned on.

Week 4
This week i my task was to find a way to make the piezo buzzer louder because it was barely audible. I found 2 solutions to the problem. One of them is to get a transformer for the sound to be amplified. The other soultion i found was to make sure the buzzer is getting enough current to the buzzer from the arduino. After i found these two solutions I created a code which works with a switch/buzzer. creating this program helped me understand a little better on how we are going to put together all of the codes for each accessory.