Project idea - the scanner
I'm working on the following: mounting an ultrasonic rangefinder on a servo motor, then using a program in Processing to sweep it back and forth and take readings. Ideally, if the readings are then displayed using polar coordinates, it should show a rough map of the surroundings.
The next step: by keeping track of the readings between sweeps, it should be possible to detect if objects are moving closer or further away. So perhaps it might be interesting to send out a MIDI signal, and rewire it to Ableton or some such, whenever motion is detected.
The idea is that motion of the sweep would introduce a rhythm to the piece, then the position in the sweep field, and the distance, of objects would cause different sounds to be played.
I've built the hardware (turret with motor and sensor), can control the motor from the laptop, and receive sensor readings.
Now I basically need to code a matching set of routines for the Arduino board, and for Processing, that will move the servo to an angle, take a reading, and return the reading to Processing. It may be easier to just use the sensorbox firmware for Arduino, which basically turns it into an I/O box with all functions controlled from the laptop.
Next up is a display routine for the gathered data. I have mostly figured this out, the breakthrough was the need to keep an array for the stored readings separate from the individual sweeps used for display.
Finally, a routine to analyze for changes, and send MIDI out. I cannot seem to get the proMIDI libraries to work, but have reached out for help on this already.