REVIEW, UPDATE & RESEARCH

Week 04 - 09/28/2022

A Home for Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

After a series of successful moves on the distance sensor last week, I decided to build it a home. It is also for my fabrication class, where we were asked to make a container for one of our Physical Computing projects. The original setup was not presentable at all — wires were messy and almost impossible to read, with the sensor and battery randomly plugged and placed on the breadboard. The project was started by having all the wires untangled and shortened. Then the dimensions of all the components were measured precisely, transferred to illustrator, and then the base and top were designed and cut. I used standoffs so the accessibility of the breadboard is largely increased. Also, the display and a toggle switch are mounted on the top, and four caster wheels are added — the whole setup became easy to use.

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Plan for Midterm

Nakyung and I have already met and talked about our project, we are both very excited about it.

Based on our discussion, we plan to have three major components:

  • A sensor. We talked about distance sensors and motion sensors. In our case, a motion sensor might work better — either active ultrasonic or passive infrared sensor.

  • A screen. As discussed in week 03, some people might be allergic to or simply dislike certain smells, therefore we will have to ask if they are willing to smell it before triggering the scent.

  • A diffuser. I have a diffuser from Muji, so we might simply use it. Once the user consents to smell the scent, the diffuser will turn on.

One thing that we are concerned about is the spread of the smell, since the project will be shown in an enclosed space. We can make the height of the diffuser adjustable so it always stays close to users’ nose. Also, we can control how long we want the diffuser to be on. We think the smell will not spread greatly when the user is relatively close to the diffuser and the diffuser is only turned on for a short period of time (for example, a few seconds). However, of course, tests are needed — so we plan to start early by gathering as much info and materials as possible this week and start building next week. Hopefully we will have time to make some improvements by the midterm.

Scents that Smell like Halloween

Here are some scents we found:

  • Pumpkin, Cinnamon, Sandalwood, Orange, Baked Apple, Deep and Dark Plum.

  • Earthy smells. Dried leaves, damp rotting wood, wet ground. Aromatic wood. Dried plants and fruit.

  • Incense, tea, caramel, sugar, crisp fall wind, leaves, petrichor.

There are also some shops which make halloween theme collections:

It might be helpful to get some of these products as well.

More discussions will be made.