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SELECTED WORK

Smaller Projects

Two Sprints, Briefly

CLIENT Self-initiated
YEAR 2024
ROLE Physical Computing
TOOLS Arduino, Unity
MPU6050
OVERVIEW

Two more pieces from the MSc, briefly. Both need more source material pulled from my own drive and GitLab before they're ready for a full write-up — noted honestly below rather than padded out.

APPROACH

Rather than stretch thin documentation into a full case study, these two get a short, honest entry each — what they are, and what's left before they'd earn a page of their own.

KALIMBA STUBBORNNESS

Arduino + custom instrument — Advanced Physical Computing, Final Project

A physical, playable kalimba-inspired instrument, built as my final project for Advanced Physical Computing. Right now my documentation is a set of presentation slides with no write-up around them — before this becomes a full case study, I want to go back through my final project journal video and project drive folder to reconstruct the build process, materials, and what "stubbornness" in the title was pointing at.

Next step: pull the journal video + drive folder contents, then expand into a full case study.

SURFING ON THE MOON

Arduino (MPU6050) + Unity — Responsive Environments, Sprint 1

A body-driven balance-board game: a gyroscope and accelerometer (MPU6050) wired to an Arduino Nano, feeding tilt data into a custom Unity controller so the whole body becomes the input device. This was a fast sprint project and I left it mid-documentation — most of my process sections are still blank.

Next step: decide if this is worth finishing as a full piece, or folding into a "sprints and experiments" section.

Surfing on the Moon — coming soon

PHYSICAL COMPUTING — BUILD

Close-up of clear laser-cut acrylic tines mounted in a row
Acrylic tines fixed into a wooden base, with wiring running to the electronics
An embroidery hoop and an Arduino setup on the desk
Cross-stitched hoop connected with alligator-clip leads
Wiring the embroidered hoop to a breadboard
Finished cross-stitch pattern with embedded LEDs
Top-down view of the desk — cutting mat, tape, pliers and electronics
Workbench under a ring light, parts and tools spread out
The full workbench mid-build
Overhead camera rig set up to film the build
Laser-cut parts and tools laid out on the desk

PHYSICAL COMPUTING — CAD

Isometric line drawing of the instrument assembly
Fusion 360 model of the tine comb and base
Fusion 360 model, closer view of the stepped tines
Fusion 360 sketch of a key profile
Fusion 360 model of a star-shaped gear
The gear positioned against a row of pins
Gear running along a rail in the Fusion 360 assembly

PHYSICAL COMPUTING — SKETCHBOOK

Sketchbook page — project requirements and circuit notes
Sketchbook page — documentation checklist and to-do list
Sketchbook page — stacked geometric forms
Sketchbook page — mirror board idea
Sketchbook page — laser-cut box studies
Sketchbook page — kalimba and enclosure ideas
Sketchbook page — comb and gear mechanism
Sketchbook page — cut template and enclosure
Sketchbook page — back-lit LED hoop
Sketchbook page — embroidered hoop with conductive thread
Sourcing diagram mapping where each component came from

CREATIVE CODING & FABRICATION

Faces sketch — classical portraits with swapped features
Repetition sketch — dense concentric circles
Generative ring of pastel circles and squares
Photographed ginkgo leaf used as sketch input
Laser-cut cardboard rings and bearings on the desk
NEXT PROJECT Self-Encode MagicBands
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