Introduction to Physical Computing - Summer 2009

May 18th - June 26th 2009
Instructor: Rory Nugent (rory.nugent at nyu.edu)
Class Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 3:15 - 6:10p
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 6:10 - 7:10p
Additional office hours by request

Physical Computing Resident: Hyeki Min, Office Hours

Description

Physical Computing is an approach to learning how humans communicate through computers that starts by considering how humans express themselves physically. In this course, we take the human body as a given, and attempt to design computing applications within the limits of its expression.

To realize this goal, you'll learn how to use sensors to detect changes in energy given off by our bodies (in the form of sound, light, motion, and other forms) and feed these values into a very simple computer called a microcontrollers that will also control output of the circuit. The microcontroller used in this class is called Arduino, is much more accessible than previous microcontrollers and is intended specifically for artists and hobbyist. The core technical concepts of the class include digital, analog and serial input and output. You'll also learn how microcontrollers communicate with other computers.

Physical computing takes a hands-on approach, which means that you spend a lot of time building circuits, soldering, writing programs, building structures to hold sensors and controls, and figuring out how best to make all of these things relate to a person's expression. Students have weekly lab exercises to build skills with the microcontroller and related tools, and longer assignments in which they apply the principles from weekly labs in creative applications. Both individual work and group work is required.

Student Blogs

• Darcy (Yun-Ching) Wang
• Michael Price
• Brett Murphy
• Chris Wolf
• Jim Goldblum
• Morgen Fleisig
• Clare Kambhu
• Evan Chamberlain
• Aaron Glazer
• Barbra Mack

Grading

Participation & Attendance: 20%
Lab Assignments: 15%
Satellite Assignment(s): 5%
Midterm: 20%
Final: 20%
Journal: 20%

Books

The following books will be used as readings and references throughout the duration of the class. While none of the books below are mandatory purchases, some of the weekly readings will come from these books, and others come highly recommended as supplementary reading if you find yourself enjoying the subject matter. I will provide you with the weekly reading assignments in a physical or digital format.

• Banzi, Massimo. Getting Started with Arduino. O'Reilly, 2008.
• Mims, Forrest. Getting Started in Electronics. Master Publishing, 2003.
• Scherz, Paul. Practical Electronics for Inventors. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
• O'Sullivan, Dan and Igoe, Tom. Physical Computing. Thomson Course Technology, 2004.
• Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books, 2002.
• Norman, Donald A. Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. Basic Books, 2005.
• Norretranders, Tor. User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size. Penguin, 1999.

Supplies

See http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Intro/Supplies

Schedule

Week 1: Basic Electronics, Introduction to Microcontrollers

Class 1 (05/19)

• Class Topics
  • Introductions
  • Class Outline
  • Physical Computing and Interaction Design
    • Reference(s)
      • Physical Computing, Introduction
  • Basic Electronics: Overview, Components, Breadboards, Multimeter, Schematics, Ohm's Law
    • Reference(s)
      • "Breadboards" from Tom Igoe
      • "Understanding Electricity" from Tom Igoe
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 39-42, 93-94
      • Physical Computing, Chapters 1-3
      • Getting Started in Electronics, pp. 19, 20-22, 24-25, 28-35
      • Schematic Symbols
  • Analog vs. Digital
  • Learn to Solder
• Assignments
  • Join the Physical Computing mailing list
  • Create a blog or website to use as a journal for your class assignments, if you don't already have one, and e-mail me a link to the site. Some nice free options are Tumblr, Blogger, and WordPress. ITP also provides a free Wordpress blog. If you're interested, please talk with Nancy Lewis.
  • Sign up for two days of shop cleaning. This is MANDATORY.
  • Speak with John Duane about attending a shop safety session. This is MANDATORY.
  • Lab: Breadboard
  • Lab: Electronics
• Readings
  • "Thinking In The Rain" by Susan Orlean

Class 2 (05/21)

• Class Topics
  • Introduction to Microcontrollers, e.g. Arduino
    • Reference(s)
      • "All About Microcontrollers" from Tom Igoe
  • Programming: Basics, Variables, Structure, Controls, Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
    • Reference(s)
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 97-104
      • Physical Computing, pp. 87-101
      • "Digital Input and Output" from Tom Igoe
  • Discuss your midterm project
• Assignments
  • Lab: Digital Input and Output with an Arduino
  • Create the device of your dreams
    • Requirements, Notes, and Inspiration
      • Must not be functional
      • Must be made of simple materials: cardboard, foam board, Manilla folders, construction paper, glue, tape, pen, markers, crayons, pencils, etc.
      • Think critically about its interface or usage
      • Don't stress! This is supposed to be fun.
      • Thoughtless Acts Flickr Pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/thoughtlessacts/pool/
      • http://cre.ations.net/creation/face-mounted-lucid-dreaming-mask
      • Make a teleportation device, my childhood dream
      • Watch a sci-fi movie for ideas
      • Ask a friend what the device of his/her dreams is
      • Make a device for your pet, e.g. wearable, food dispenser
      • Sleep on it, see what comes to you in the morning after a good dream
      • A device that covers up a flaw of yours
      • "I want to create a device that records your dreams straight to video as you sleep"
      • Virtual Pet
      • Google "Chindogu"
      • Consult with Oblique Strategies (Yahoo Widget) (Blog Post) (Mac OS X App)
• Readings
  • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 19-51
  • Crawford, The Art of Interactive Design, Chapters 1 and 2 (note: You will need to sign into NYUHome to view this. From your NYUHome home page, click "Research" then "books24x7.com" then search for "The Art of Interactive Design" by Chris Crawford. Alternately, try this link. )

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Week 2: Programming, Analog Input and Output

Class 3 (05/26)

• Class Topics
  • Programming: Pseudo-Code, Commenting, Debugging, Using the Arduino reference
    • Reference(s)
      • Physical Computing, Chapter 5
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 87-92
      • Arduino.cc Reference
  • Analog Input: Overview, Components, Arduino
    • Reference(s)
      • "Analog Input" from Tom Igoe
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 64-68
      • Physical Computing, pp. 102-112
      • ITP Sensor Workshop Wiki
  • Electronics Shopping
    • SparkFun
    • Electronic Goldmine
    • Jameco
    • Newark
    • Mouser
    • Digikey
    • 269 Electronics Inc., 269 Canal Street, Manhattan (Make Blog)
    • Leeds Radio, 68 North 7th Street, Brooklyn
• Assignments
  • Lab: Analog Input with an Arduino
• Reading
  • Norman, Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 1
  • Norman, Emotional Design, Chapter 1, "Attractive Things Work Better".

Class 4 (05/28)

• Class Topics
  • Analog Output: Overview, Components, PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), Servos, Sound, Arduino
    • Reference(s)
      • "Analog Output" from Tom Igoe
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 56-62
      • Physical Computing, pp. 112-127
  • Choose midterm partners and brainstorm
• Assignments
  • Lab: Analog Output with Arduino
  • Begin your midterm project
• Reading
  • Norretranders, The User Illusion, Chapter 6: The Bandwidth of Consciousness

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Week 3: Serial Communication

Class 5 (06/02)

• Class Topics
  • Serial: Overview, Output, Interpreting, Arduino
    • Reference(s)
      • Serial Print with an Arduino
      • "Serial Communication" from Tom Igoe
      • "Serial To The Desktop" from Tom Igoe
      • ASCII Chart
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 68-69
• Assignments
  • Lab: Serial Output with Arduino

Class 6 (06/04)

• Class Topics
  • Serial: Multiple sensors, ASCII vs. binary, handshake/call-and-response
    • Reference(s)
      • "Serial To The Desktop" from Tom Igoe
      • "Interpreting Serial Data" from Tom Igoe
• Assignments
  • Lab: Serial Duplex with Arduino
• Reading
  • Myron Krueger, "Responsive Environments", in Packer & Jordan, Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, ch. 12, pp. 104-120.

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Week 4: Midterm, Movement

Class 7 (06/09)

• Class Topics
  • Midterm Presentations
  • Transistors and Relays
    • Reference(s)
      • "Controlling High Current Circuits" from Tom Igoe
      • Getting Started in Electronics, pp. 26, 48-51
      • Getting Started with Arduino, pp. 70-71
• Assignments
  • Lab: Using a TIP120 transistor

Class 8 (06/11)

• Class Topics
  • Motors: Inductance, DC motors, stepper motors
    • Reference(s)
      • "Controlling DC Motors" from Tom Igoe
      • "Motors" from Tom Igoe
      • Physical Computing, Chapter 10
      • "Stepper Motor Control" from Tom Igoe
  • Discuss your final project ideas
• Assignments
  • Lab: Controlling a DC motor with Arduino

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Week 5: Project Development, Extra Topics

Class 9 (06/16)

• Class Topics
  • Digi Xbee Zigbee Radios
    • Reference(s)
      • "Making Things Talk" by Tom Igoe
      • ITP PAN ID Reservatons
      • Xbee Notes by Rob Faludi
      • Common Xbee Mistakes
  • Batteries
    • Reference(s)
      • Rory's Battery Notes
      • Rob Faludi's Arduino and Xbee Battery Tests

Class 10 (06/18)

• Class Topics
  • Wearables
    • Reference(s)
      • ITP Wearables Wiki
      • The Fashion Center
  • Renewable Energy: Solar and Kinetic
    • Reference(s)
      • http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Notes/SolarCells
      • BEAM Circuits
      • Solarbotics
  • Discuss your final project progress

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Week 6: Final Workshop and Presentations

Class 11 (06/23)

• Final Project Workshop

Class 12 (06/25)

• Final Presentations