We used 0.006 flexinol. For 5 volts, we needed 9.6 inches of wire. We did many tests with the muscle wire. One problem we encountered was that the muscle wire broke the string attaching to the paper. We found some extra strong string, like fishing string.

For the circuit,  we used an arduino and we needed to use 5V plug as the arduino does not generate enough power for the muscle wire. We also used a Mosfet and a 10K resistor. Once we connected everything. the project worked and the flowers lifted. They not go as high as we had hoped and we are working on that now.

We rebuilt the circuit using smaller wires to make easier and now are working on  the muscle wire.

This is the dress Yoonjo and I designed for final project.

Ioni Gkliati in NIME class wore this dress for her performance at Glasslands and La Sala.

For future, I’d like to enhance the wearability.

The video is not showing the light blinking however the system blinks quite fast according to the users proximity to the light pipe.

Click to see the video

This is an assignment hyeyoung and I worked together.

We are using burrito as the capacitive sensor which triggers processing sketch of flashing burrito and the burrito song at a certain threshold.

Each circuit was made on a flat wood surface using copper tape.

In the end, my barnacles worked but ideally would be redesigned to be more intuitive.  I found that clipping the barnacles together was too awkward to accomplish the effect that I wanted.  Here’s an example of three hooked together.

First step, I had to sew a pillow!  I used a thick black velvet and a sewing machine to sew three sides of my pillow.  I left the fourth side open so that I could secure the electronics and hand sew it closed later.

My EL Wire was already attached to a driver so there was no need to solder to it.  I added some heat shrink tubing at the end of the EL Wire to insulate where it had been trimmed.  I cut a tiny hole in the velvet and pulled the wire through.  I wrote a word on my pillow in chalk and carefully stitched the EL Wire to fit the chalk drawing.

Since I planned on putting this pillow on my bed, I didn’t want to have it on all of the time.  I decided to put a reed switch between a 9 volt battery and the power to the driver.  That way, I could turn the pillow off and on using a magnet.  Because my pillow says “bite”, I made a small felt apple with a magnet inside and attached it to the corner of the pillow.

For some reason, my reed switch occasionally sticks on.  I think it might be temporarily magnetized…but it seems to work well most of the time!  If I had to do this pillow again, I might switch to using fishing line to sew on the EL Wire to make it less visible.

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Here‘s a video of the final project!

For my final project I decided to go with a holiday theme. Every year I attend an event called SantaCon; it’s a gathering of people dressed in Santa and other Christmas-themed costumes. When I was thinking about Santa, two concepts stood out in my mind: sitting on his lap and his list (naughty or nice). With the arsenal of techniques we learned this semester, I decided a pressure sensor in the lap that triggers a judgement (naughty or nice) displayed on pockets would be appropriate.

Clothing

I used a pre-made Santa costume that I was comfortable with modifying. First I sized up the jacket to determine the proper placement for the naughty/nice pockets.

I printed out the words and traced them using a permanent marker on sheer fabric. I also used a thin layer of filler material to diffuse the LED backlights.

Once I ran the LEDs through the coat I hot glued the pockets on top.

Circuitry

I first laid out the circuit: red/green LEDs to indicate naughty or nice and a pressure sensor (foil on either side of the anti static foam).

For the complete system, I wrapped the core Arduino and wires with plastic to contain everything and then attached a string to hang the entire assembly around my neck. The assembled pressure sensors used two layers of the foam with foil on both sides, sides taped up, and a lead running to the microprocessor; I used Velcro straps to secure the sensors to my legs. I first tried to attach the sensors to the inside of the pants; however, it became difficult to take them on and off, so I changed things so that I could attach the electronics to my body before putting on the jacket and pants.

Because I was putting on the jacket after the electronics, I decided to use snaps to attach the LEDs.

Sensing

One question that came up was how you determine if somebody is naughty or nice. I played with different configurations for a capacitive sensor, but it was ineffective  when it was up against my body. What I ended up going with was using a random number generator, seeded by the reading from the sensor.

I started to do some research as to real life aplications and the need for capacitors in regards to food.

I found this very interesting documentation showing that the capacitors are used to document wether food has high

levels of metal or other dangerous outputs,, in class we were playing with our food as novelty. I am excited o have learned that there is a very important application

to the technlogy behind this

http://www.rechner.de/instanz/pdfs/kas-world-en.pdf

WATER ACTIVITY AND BACTERIAL GROWTH: HOW CAPACITIVE SENSORS AND CHILLED- MIRROR DEWPOINT SENSORS COMPARE

WATER ACTIVITY IS A CRITICAL FACTOR that determines the shelf life of food products. While temperature, pH and several other factors can influence whether an organism will grow in a food product and the rate at which it will grow, water activity may be the most important factor. Most bacteria, for example, do not grow at water activities below 0.91, and most molds cease to grow at water activities below 0.80. By measuring the water activity of foodstuffs, it is possible to predict which microorganisms will and will not be potential sources of spoilage. Water activity-not water content-determines the lower limit of available water for microbial growth. In addition to influencing microbial spoilage, water activity can play a significant role in determining the activity of enzymes and vitamins in foods, and can have a major impact on food color, taste and aroma. Controlling water activity is an important way to maintain the chemical stability of foods.

Maillard non-enzymatic reactions.

Foods containing proteins and carbohydrates, for example, are prone to non- nzymatic browning reactions, called Maillard reactions. The likelihood of Maillard reactions browning a product increases as the water activity of foods increases, reaching a maximum at water activities in the range of 0.6 to 0.7. In some cases, though, further increases in water activity will hinder Maillard reactions. So, for some foods, measuring and controlling water activity is a good way to control Maillard browning problems.

Slowing down enzymatic reactions.

The spontaneous autocatalytic breakdown of triglycerides (the major constituent of fats and oils) to produce free-fatty acids is strongly influenced by water activity. This type of food spoilage increases at high water activity values and results in formation of highly objectionable flavors and odors. Most enzymatic reactions are slowed down at water activities below 0.8. But some of these reactions occur even at very low water activity values. Of course, for foods that are thermally treated during processing, enzymatic spoilage is usually not a primary concern.

Free water vs. bound water.

Water activity instruments measure the amount of free, unbound water (sometimes referred to as “active” water) present in the food sample. A portion of the total water content present in foods is strongly bound to specific sites on the chemicals that comprise the foodstuff. These sites may include the hydroxyl groups of polysaccharides, the carbonyl and amino groups of proteins, and other polar sites. Water is held by hydrogen bonds, ion-dipole bonds and other strong chemical bonds. Additionally, some water in foods is bound less tightly but is still not available (as in a solvent for water-soluble food components). Many food preservation processes attempt to eliminate spoilage by lowering the availability of water to microorganisms. Reducing the amount of free-or unbound-water also minimizes other undesirable chemical changes occurring in foods during storage. The processes used to reduce the amount of free water in foods include techniques like concentration, dehydration and freeze drying. Freezing is another common approach to controlling food spoilage. Water in frozen foods is in the form of ice crystals and therefore unavailable to microorganisms for reactions with food components. Because water is present in varying degrees of free and bound states, analytical methods that attempt to measure total moisture in foods don’t always agree. Water activity tells the real story.

Types of water activity sensors.

The water activity of a food sample can be determined from the relative humidity of the air surrounding the sample when the two are at equilibrium. The sample must be in an enclosed space. The sample and the water vapor in the air need time to come to equilibrium. Then, the water activity of the sample and the relative humidity of the air are equal. The measurement taken at equilibrium is called an equilibrium relative humidity or ERH.

Capacitive sensor theory.

Many a_w sensors use capacitance to measure water activity. They use a sensor made from a hygroscopic polymer and associated circuitry that gives a signal relative to the ERH. The sensor measures the ERH of the air immediately around it. This ERH is equal to sample water activity only as long as the temperatures of the sample and the sensor are the same. Capacitive sensors need between 30 and 90 minutes to come to temperature and vapor equilibrium. Accurate measurements require good temperature control.

Chilled Mirror Theory

AquaLab uses a chilled-mirror sensor to measure dewpoint. The instrument’s fan circulates air in the sensing chamber, speeding up vapor equilibrium. An infrared thermometer measures sample temperature independently. AquaLab can then compute aw from first principles without making assumptions about sample temperature. Independent sample temperature measurement also virtually eliminates the need for temperature control.

Choosing a measurement tool.

Which sensor works best for measuring the water activity of foods? The major advantage of the chilled mirror dewpoint method, which is a primary method approved by AOAC International, is speed. While electronic capacitive sensors usually require 30 to 90 minutes to reach equilibrium relative humidity conditions, chilled mirror instruments can make measurements in less than 5 minutes. AquaLab employs a fan to speed up equilibrium. For some applications, fast readings allow food processors to perform at-line monitoring of a food product’s water activity. Processing changes can then be made during production. Chilled mirror instruments make readings over a wider water activity range (from 0.0300 to 1.000 a_w) than capacitive water activity sensors. With chilled-mirror technology, temperature control is unnecessary for most applications. The CX-2 is ideal for the measurement of products at room temperature, (22-28°C).

Purchasing decisions.

When evaluating water activity measurements, precision and accuracy are, of course, important considerations. But equally important to consider is how susceptible the sensor is to contamination and how frequently calibration is required. Also, when comparing water activity instruments, be sure to evaluate precision and accuracy over the entire range of water activities most commonly found in your specific products.

Water activity-accepted and approved.

For many foods, water activity is an important property. It predicts food stability with respect to physical properties, rates of deteriorative reactions, and microbial growth. The growing recognition of measuring water activity in foods is illustrated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s incorporation of the water activity principle in the definition of low-acid foods. They use this, and other criteria, to determine whether a scheduled process must be filed for the thermal destruction of Clostridium botulinum. (“Low-acid foods means food with a finished equilibrium pH greater than 4.6 and a water activity greater than 0.85.”) In the past, measuring water activity of foodstuffs was a frustrating experience. New instrument technologies have vastly improved speed, accuracy and reliability of measurements. AquaLab is definitely a tool not only for food product designers but for food quality control labs.

after experimenting with multiple sources for

IMG_8479

Project 1  _A whole lot of Elvis I found a super bright strip of super bright blue LEDs worked best

The multiple lazer cut panels combined with the flourescent edge and mirror helped to create a feeling of infinity when approached at specific angles.

I combined with a simple on off switch to control the lighting

Project 2 Elvis on my Mind was achieved by playing with the absence of light in the contour of the imagery.

This project is still in process, but the proof of concept was  achieved

My findings were that El wire was not the right material for this project because the light output was not strong enough.

I switched to a bright strip of LED which did work with a on/ off switch for my final  i also experimented with a simple fixture that had 3 super bright LEDS

This is a example of the brightness between the two types of light