Over the course of the semester, we have been expected to make the impossible, well, possible, through our final project. My professor has been calling our final project the Impossible Project. In other words, we have been asked to form the basis of our project around something we don’t know how to do, by starting with something that we learned in the course. I decided to incorporate three activities - Toy Take Apart, Micro:bit, and the Drawing Machine (check previous blog posts for more clarification, if needed). We were also asked to come up with a proposal for the project, which would be shared with the class to offer any suggestions or changes that needed to be made. After beginning the project, we would have quick discussions at the start of each class to talk about our progress, and again, offer a space where suggestions could be made. Sometimes our classmates would have ideas that never crossed our own minds.
Here was my proposal for the Impossible Project (April 4, 2019):
During the time spent in this course, many new materials peaked my interest. I was especially impressed with the Drawing Machines, and became curious on how to develop a reliable machine. I am personally interested in wet media that shows fluidity and movement. When looking at my database [collection of inspiration], I realized I have a lot of pictures with the keyword “Nature vs. Industrialization”, which can also be referred to as Nature vs. Humans. I am fascinated by what we can and cannot control when it comes to artmaking. When I paint fluid acrylics, I can control the additives, size of the canvas, the colors, the direction the paint moves, but I cannot control the density of pigments, the humidity in the air on that particular day, or the way the paint chooses to mix in that specific moment. I control it to a certain extent, and then the paint chooses the rest of the way. For my Impossible Project, I would like to construct a reliable painting machine using the micro:bit, moto:bit, a toy car and elements from nature to create mark-making. I will design one path for the machine and use it to create multiple paintings to represent how humans can control certain elements, but nature will inevitably have its share in control, as well. I will do this by attaching the micro:bit + additional materials to a toy car, while using MakeCode.com to design the path the car takes. I will need to learn what path works best with the size of canvas chosen, how the toy car moves in wet paint, and how heavy my materials from nature need to be to create a mark.
It has been a month since that proposal, and I have learned a lot by working with all of these materials together. I started by working with MakeCode to code the path of my machine, which included the micro:bit, moto:bit, motors, and a battery pack. When I assembled all of these materials together, it became apparent to me that the size of the combination would be important to how big my toy car needed to be. The micro:bit attached to the moto:bit was 4 ¼” in length, and the motors and battery pack could be arranged beside or underneath depending on the structure. The space in the toy car for this assemblage would at least have to be around 4 ½”. I noted this and continued to play with the code in order to understand how the motors moved. If I desired my car to spin around at all, I found I could do this by making one motor spin forward, while the other spun backwards.
I bought a toy car that seemed perfect for my project - it was definitely big enough. It had a compartment for the micro:bit assemblage and a space to attach my natural materials, as well. I started brainstorming ways I could attach the motors to the wheels - luckily, my car was high off the ground, so it had space to put the motors underneath the car. I ended up removing two wheels and some plastic in order to secure the wheels to the motors. I would need to extend the motors in order to make sure the wheels didn’t hit the body of the car, so I did this by attaching straws to the motors, and the wheels to the straws. When I tested the code, I found that the wheels would spin, but the car would not move. My first thought was to make the code longer, thinking this would make the wheels spin for more time, getting it to move. After discussing the issue with my professor, we found that the main issue was that my wheels were not getting traction. We decided to fix this by adding rubber bands around the wheels. I tested it again, and it barely moved. I figured it really was an issue with the code this time. I went to MakeCode to develop a new, longer code. If the motors spun for a longer amount of time, my car would move further. It took me weeks before I found out I could make the motors move for the amount of seconds I chose, and the code did not necessarily need to be longer. Oops! That would have saved me some time messing with the code, but oh, well, it was a learning experience! I was finally able to get the code I wanted, which included making the machine go straight and then spin around in a couple of circles. I would do this by coding both motors to spin forward for ten seconds, and then one motor would spin forward while the other spun backwards for five seconds. Through trial and error, I found that straws would be too flimsy for what I was trying to do. The machine would move for a second or two, but then the straws would get twisted up, making my machine come to a stop. Additionally, when the car moved, it was not moving in the path I envisioned. I remember feeling frustrated at this point, and decided to let the weekend settle my thoughts.
Over the weekend, I had the epiphany I could empty out Bic pens, and use those for the extension of the motors instead of straws. I hoped that this fix would make the car move the way I pictured. I cut the pens about half their original size, and hot glued them to the motors and wheels. This allowed my car to move through the entire code, but it still didn’t move in the path I wanted. It spun in circles the entire time - I believe this was due to the way I crafted my car. Without careful measurements, I actually had one wheel extended longer than the other, and it was at a slight angle. I let this go for now - at least it was moving, and quite frankly, I love circles.
This past week, I tested the painting machine on canvas. I began by attaching three different sizes of sticks onto the machine - dipping one in blue paint, one in red, and one in yellow. I poured white paint onto the canvas, getting it as even as possible - if it was too thick or uneven, my car might not move. I placed the painting machine onto the canvas - I felt excited nervousness. I had been working on this project for weeks and it was time for the revealing moment. Exactly what I predicted to happen, happened - my canvas was much too small for the radius the car moved in, so my car immediately spun off into the abyss. I wanted to do more testing, but did not have a larger canvas around the house. Luckily, I had two more canvases I could push together and use for testing. I did a couple of test runs by dipping the sticks, but experimented further by pouring a small amount of red, blue, and yellow onto the canvas for the sticks to drag through. I found pouring the colors and letting the sticks drag through them created interesting mark making. The size of the canvases together seemed to be perfect, but my car kept coming to a stop. It was either getting stuck on the crack in between the canvases, or the rubber bands were too wet with paint to create traction.
I plan to do several more tests on one correct sized canvas to clear this issue up, while also tweaking my car to ensure the reliability of it. Once those things are done, I would also like to experiment with the types of natural materials made. I chose sticks because they are sturdy, but I am interested to see what type of mark making leaves create, as well. If time allows, I would like attempt the original path I had envisioned for my car. My proposal included the reliability of the machine, and right now it is still unclear just how reliable it is. Looking at the project for what it is now, the knowledge I have gained through this process is not at question. I had many epiphanies throughout, and I firmly state real learning derives through process rather than product.