Photons swirling in the night

DO IT

Materials:
1 LED juggling ball
1 rope dart
1 camera with adjustable shutter speed
1 hefty dose of Excellent People

So, a while ago I made a set of glow balls for juggling in the dark... alas, they did not work well, as the constant jarring and poor connections caused them to flash on and off, and the LEDs were hard to look at when they flashed into my eyes. But as with any "failed" project, they can be repurposed! (This is why I am a packrat.)

Each consists of, from the inside out: a 9V battery, white fabric dipped in glow paint, three LEDs, and several layers of cellophane for light diffusion. The stiff fabric holds its shape well, so the battery can easily be switched out. The LEDs are hooked up in parallel, like so:
The long leg of each LED is its positive side (oriented toward the battery's positive terminal, or the red wire on a 9V connector pad). This basic circuit is wrapped around the ball, and the wire ends are duct taped to the battery. The positive end is disconnected when the ball is not in use.

For this project, I took one ball and wrapped it in a wire cage (separated from the LED wires) to attach it to the rope dart. That is attached to a keychain with a swivel, so it can rotate freely, and then hooked to the dart chain with a screw link.

The wire cage presses the battery terminals against the wires, helping the lights stay constantly lit. The smoother motion of the rope dart (as compared to random impacts, with juggling) also aids in this respect.

Rope dart assembly. There's a metal crimp thingy and loop separator thingy, whose precise names I've now forgotten, but which help to keep the 1/4" nylon rope secure and unfrayed. The rope ends in a chain, which is standard and will be very useful when I make a fire head for this thing! *anticipatory hand-rubbing and cackling*

The original head was made with 12 dead AA batteries duct taped to an eye hook, with a stopper and nut on the other end of the hook to keep the batteries from flying off. That was very, very painful when it hit me in the shin/head/back/other shin, so I took 6 batteries off and now it only hurts quite a lot. The glow head will probably stay on for a while, as it's lighter and softer, and not at all likely to cause concussions. Delightful!

On the first night of experimentation, my droog Eric took most of the photos, so mighty props to him. Here you can see the rope wrapping around my neck, which is my favorite move with the rope dart... a full one looks like this:

UFO TYME

And then, of course, you can draw... for most of these, we have the camera set to take 10-second exposures.

Eric makes a really awesome thing while trying to draw a triangle and label the sides.

My mom, Lori, realizes that one can flip the image in post-production... thus, writing backwards is not strictly required. The red LED is a little throwie I made using two little batteries and a metal bar that connects the battery terminals when pressed... so it can actually be turned on and off if you want space between your letters (fancy that!). The swirls are me running around her with the rope dart.

Then we did some portraits...

Lori

my main droog Naomi

me

And then Dokta Funk picked up the rope dart and blew our minds with his ambient illumination.

And that was that.

Super-Powered Goggles

I broke down and made some goggles! Ones that actually improve my vision, by accident (see below). We had a night for goggling at the AHA! Shop. Would that I had brought my camera... these are all progress shots from later.

The backing piece is thick ruddy suede, part of a large cache I procured from the Scrap Box a while back. On the left (right eye), we have half a silver-plated napkin ring, with a piece of stainless steel plate soldered in, plus a ring bearing, surrounded by excess solder. On the right, some more steel plate riveted on, with pinholes drilled in... surmounted by a clip-on jeweler's loupe. In the forehead is a brass grommet / third eye aperture. (This project was excellent practice with pop rivets and grommets, both of which are a lot of fun. No wonder I've never gotten good at sewing.)

The left-side pinholes have the curious property of augmenting my vision. My sight isn't terrible, but I can't wear glasses with the goggles. But the pinholes' small apertures restrict the angles at which light can enter the eye, making things clearer. I spent a lot of yesterday comparing eyes; they're usually pretty identical in ability, but with these on I can read things with my left that are blurry through my right, even when I squint. Once I noticed the effect, I remembered reading about pinhole glasses some years ago, but had completely forgotten that until now. Serendipitous!

Originally, both eyes were to be halves of this napkin ring. It came from Antelope Antiques, where the shopkeeper started polishing off the tarnish despite my protestations... but it still looks lovely. I hacksawed it in half (on an angle for face-fittage), cut it to shape with some metal plate snips, then smoothed the edges with a metal rasp.

The left eye was going to be covered with more steel, like so... but I couldn't get it to attach properly, so the plate went on instead. The right-eye napkin ring is attached by tabs of the suede backing.

I bent the stems on my loupe so the lenses sit in front of my left eye when it's clamped to the side strap. Enjoyable!

Interlude I: Noam Tries to Lick the Plasma Light Bulb

Interlude II: Nate's Sweet Goggles

Sleepy Nate used brass and rubber plumbing gaskets, set in tan suede. His goggles have a dust mask that can be detached from the right side, to hang out of the way when not in use. (Picture by Noam)

Back to the main feature...
I used a couple of electrical clamps on each side, which not only looks awesome but also provides some adjustability. Attaching these to the strap proved to be the main stumbling block, and the reason why I stalled for a week before finishing them for the Hands-On Museum Local Tech Event last night. (AHA! and 826michigan shared a booth, thanks to sponsorship from Tom Root... more info about our project later.)

The holes in the clamps were too small to push rivets through, and I couldn't find a working drill for many a tiresome day. Once one was located, that and a triangular metal file made the job rather easy (although the rivets barely made it through the whole thickness of leather and metal).

Copper pop rivets installed!

Plate side, minus the loupe (which I do think adds a lot).

I also added some decorative rivets and a mended tear on the right side. Can't have my battle goggles looking shiny-new.

Goggle pics from the Local Tech Event... these were taken with my near-IR webcam and run through Quartz Composer. Further details to come...

Happy happy

I love this picture :D
We were stationed across from Current Motor Co., represented at the event by John Harding, who gave an awesome presentation at Ignite 3 in March. I wandered over and saw the sweet "inverted" motor (ring of magnets on the outside, coils on the inside) that drives their wheels. That's their motorcycle on the left. Mmmm pretty.

Stay tuned for Rotary Ruminations (Sorta) and Robo-Vision!

Musical Cyborg Juggling Apparatus

6 1/2 hours in the AHA! Shop and a chocolate-peanut-butter sandwich brought us to this. I'd been stalled out on the method for weeks, and then the clouds suddenly broke, early on April Fool's Day.

So what is this? It is a harness that turns the action of juggling into buzzing noises, flashing LEDs, and arcing electricity. Each palm has two separate copper wires exposed, one of which is hooked up to the positive terminal of a battery, while the other connects to a motor (or bank of LEDs, or people-shocking device). When the wires are bridged by a tinfoil-covered juggling ball, the circuit is closed and the motor (people-shocker, eye-blinder, etc.) runs. Thus, the juggling becomes a method of switching things on and off... like so:

...ish.

And this is what it actually looks like... somewhat less elegant, perhaps. At the top left, we have the left glove with a conductive ball bridging its contacts; below that, a taped-up 12V battery pack (the brown/blue block); then, the box itself. Most of the apparatus is externally mounted. Magnets glued near the four central motors anchor metal bolts, which are struck by the spinning zip ties to create a variety of buzzing sounds (sample mp3!). From the bottom left emerge wires from a shocker, which discharges a decent amount of voltage (I forget how much) across the blue and white wires' stripped ends. It will arc up to about 1cm through the air, which looks pretty sweet, and also give you a pretty hefty shock. (Me holding one contact + Amanda holding the other + proximity -> lightning hands!)

Not pictured: burned-out LED bank... I am not yet wise in the science of adding resistors. But a new, more awesome version is on the way.

The box belts to my waist, and...

suede straps anchor the wires to my arms.

Prototype glove... wire contacts wrapped around a scrap anchor on the inside. Jabby.

Suede glove #1 in production!

Maille rings and thread hold the wires in place. Juggling gloves: now with 50% less pain!


Balls: socks + washers (for heft) + duct tape (for cushioning and adhesive) + tinfoil.

So, there is currently a glove for each hand, plus these:
Finger-contacts! These copper rings are a pain, both figuratively (the donning/doffing process is tedious) and literally (they have a tendency to channel voltage straight through my fingers, resulting in anguish and blisters). But they look... kinda awesome.

I brought this machine to exhibit (with AHA!) at TEDxUofM, which was pretty stupendous. My favorite presenters were John Holland, Udae Sandhu (who voiced basically my current philosophy of happiness), Jacob Mendel's "Zlatá Rybka" video, Mason Proper (!!), Matt Shlian, and Alex Wand (with his awesome marimba-bowing musics). Yesssssss.

AHA! and the Apparatus will also be making an appearance at several future DIY/tech/Maker events, including the Hands-On Museum's Tech Event (May 22), the Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire (June 5), and hopefully the Detroit Maker Faire (July 31 - August 1). Actually, this post is part of my application for Detroit... I anticipate all three being fantastic.

(Do Breadboards Dream Of) Electric Jam

IT LIVES!


Last Saturday, I finished Make's crackerbox amp project. This is extremely exciting, as it represents a) a successful first foray into the twin lands of circuit diagrams and building electronics from scratch, and b) the actualization of my own electric mandolin!

Janky janky janky. But it works! (I had very limited wire resources... hence, everything is the same color.)

This soldering job reminds me of Kate Beaton's fat pony: ugly and incompetent, but kind of endearing...

While Make seems to have some kind of sponsorship thing with Radio Shack, I don't recommend going there for parts. I moseyed down there one evening, and walked out feeling like I'd lost two hours (including bus time) and spent twice as much as I should've for the components I got. Even if you go online to avoid getting ripped off as much, it could easily cost more than $5 if you don't have most of the stuff already on hand. Still, no complaints - I ended up with this...

:)

The best reference material came from http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/ . Amazing resource for semi-newcomers to the field of electronic jiggery-pokery. I also highly recommend checking out cairn's comments / linked PCB layout pic on the article page. While it was fun to slowly learn how to read the circuit diagram, at times it got extremely frustrating; I found that layout diagram once I was done, and kinda wished I'd had it all along. (Still, it was gratifying to turn the thing on and have noise come out, when I'd wondered if it would do anything but set the carpet on fire.)

With the piezo mounted! I tried poking/cutting holes in the speaker cone for more distortion, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference... perhaps because I only have an 8-ohm speaker. It came from the local Kiwanis rummage sale - they have a bunch, and I paid a solitary buck for this one.

This amp exists mainly to give grittiness and edge to the mandolin, and that it does, most noticeably in the upper registers. I chose to use surface-mounted pickups because there's no way I'm taking a drill to the mandolin. So I'm going with a piezo wired to a 1/4" plug, courtesy of the excellent Matt Endahl.

Next step: build a case for it. I settled on some 2-walled plastic with linear cells, which David and I pulled out of the art museum dumpster a while back.

Piezo pickup with plug, duct tape, box cutter, Sharpie, nail sink, amp, plastic.

Cut the plastic into three panels, for optimal stability (that whole 3-legs-don't-wobble thing)... plus mega style points.

Top and bottom covers (the top flaps open); speaker hole cutout.

Duct tape "hammer" + nail sink + needlenose pliers -> easy holes, exactly the right size.

Loud = volume, Angry = gain :)

A lot of people asked about volume vs. gain. As I understand it, the chip already amplifies input sound by a certain amount. The gain feeds from the chip back into it, so that basically controls how much the chip amplifies the signal (sound). (Past a certain level, this creates clipping, which makes it sound gritty.) The volume is between the chip and the speaker ("after" the chip), so it controls how much of this already-amplified signal is put through the speaker.

Left side: on/off toggle, 1/4" jack
Center: volume rheostat, gain potentiometer
Right: speaker
Bottom: PCB, 9V battery

Finished! Here's a short sound sample with the mandolin. There are some images up already on Facebook, as I brought it to Build Night last night at AHA...

Rocking out (as best I am able) at the shop.

We also taped it up to the illustrious Amanda's amazing propane tank steel drum. That thing sounds amazing, though as with the mandolin, only the higher registers worked with the amp's distortion. Apparently, I can switch out one of the capacitors, and it'll pick up more bass... so I guess that's a logical next step with this thing. I already tried hooking up some red LEDs inline with the speaker (so they'd pulse along with the sound), but alas, they were too much of a voltage drain and barely any sound came out.

The last couple of photos are from AHA's Facebook page; I believe they were taken by Josh, one of the proprietors of Digital Ops, our venue. I am inexpressibly happy that this space, the group, and the people in it exist. Dudes are seriously awesome.

Nobody understands meeee

...though mainly because I sing in made-up languages.

I've been having pretty good times lately. The days are particularly grand when I can get a reservation for the V-Room (UM's sound recording booth). I finally recorded three folk songs I wrote while studying abroad in 2008... the vocals are dodgy as always, but I think the language alone gives these interest. They're written in my conlang, mazlaani. The tunes are stolen from other places; lyrics and loose translations follow... click the song titles to download, or here to listen to all of them on Posterous.

Inothaye eila hi fari - Tune: Navan, "Seoithín, Seothó"

Inothaye eila hi fari A’santu mari imkarenni Inothaye eila hi fari Kaadie tsuoheta leme eiyon Xiyora lorelea oreni Lentah pakaiyu sefura faa siten Xiyora lorelea oreni S’akal naarana kte’u Inothaye eila hi fari A’santu mari imkarenni Inothaye eila hi fari Kiie xituran oreni ridae.

To wander this land is good This is a place of peace To wander this land is good Green leaves filter creamy light I drink in the richness of the days My feet walk in cool water I drink in the richness of the days High sunlight warms my skin To wander this land is good This is a place of peace To wander this land is good And I have days to wander.

Chilun tumnanaii - The Chieftains, "Don Oiche Ud I mBeithil"

Elemnen kiranaiyo Kinarolan s’amna me Ruuara-tsorun xala, A’sachti faa lihte hou. A’quuro s’idusa faa Saahta rochai’an; Janaï-to lonn faa charam A’chairechta kummnaou.

The embers of summer sleep under fallen leaves When I inhale, I awaken and my breath is mist on the wind. A fire begins to ignite itself in the air; Sparks drift red from high branches in the twilight.

As'ailu xirhara lani - Ugnëlakis su Kûlgrinda, "Skauda Galvelá, Negaliu"

As’ailu xirhara lani Fairech naarai tumnanaii Xolts’e o rinta leai Reiya petuvin xani, pexeiya Inlaat xe xiute raas’in Rilun, razlaani a’xalsin S’e o s’inna kinuta’u Faolan, o eila-urun xa s’inna Pala’u tchenden nolurinna Xatou as’tir tuorunna Qulann'u s’estoh yunao Lechat’u seiyonna ochai O as’ach as’ailra saati? Taapra canssto, taapra s’altï? Tsuohe-urun a laanti; Tukran-to s’aarai eila...

From my window I see them, Sparkling with autumn sunlight. I would go and run with them, but cannot; it is not given to me... How can I stay and whisper? Now I want to speak, to sing. The world will see my heart beating! The whole world will see me. My drum is the storm’s lightning; I wear the mountain’s gale. My music is the beating rain, My torch is the moon’s flame. Will my eyes turn back to the window? Is home a friend or an enemy? Now all the leaves are falling, The world gleams copper...

Someday I will add backing to this song; right now, I'm thinking tambourine, electric mandolin, and electric mediocre viola. (More on these later...)

Upon reflection, I think I subconsciously stole a couple of words from Elvish: check "laanti" (they fall), with Tolkien's "lantar" (same), as well as "oren"/"aurë" (day). This is not at all surprising, and as any giant dork will observe, the themes are also pretty similar. I wrote a lot about autumn because I had none that year, being in the southern hemisphere for five months; the vocabulary is also limited, because of the size of the language so far.

•••••••••••••

There's more in the offing, but I can't give away all my secrets at once. I'm planning some fun stuff for the Maker Faires this summer (A2 Mini and MakerCity in Detroit)... definitely working with the AHA! Shop, possibly the Hands-On Museum, and/or a couple other excellent peoples. It will be a good season.

[Side note: AUGH FORMATTING... I will try and fix this, but no promises. ;_;]

Juggling balls (Part 2)

These juggling balls are more time- and labor-intensive than the others, but you end up with a much warmer, more personal final product. They're basically hacky sacks, but for juggling you need 3+.

My first attempt / only complete set so far.

There are various ways of making these; the general idea is that you're making a soft cube, so you need six squares in some configuration, plus some space for the stitches to hold. I use two rectangles of suede for each ball, each 3 squares long (kind of like baseballs). You can also use three rectangles of two each, or two L-shaped pieces of 3 each. Or whatever else your little heart desires. All it really affects is the pattern of the colors.

1 red-orange and 1 sage green for each ball. The balls in my original set are filled with black beans, which produces a very pleasant noise. Now I'm trying to make some with jingly bells inside, which will sound sort of rattly when muted by the stuffing... kind of meh, but it'll provide variation. These are for use in juggling rhythms (I've gotten a bunch further since that video... exciting).

Materials!

I'm using doubled thread to sew the edges together, with about 1/4"-1/2" of edging. As with most needle-and-thread projects, this is sewn inside out, except for an opening, then inverted and finished.

Halfway through...

End of each rectangle attaches to the middle third of the other. Suede is a bit more finicky than the cloth I used before; I had to cut a small triangle from each straight edge where it folded around the corner of the other rectangle.

Flipped...

...and inverted. This is just to show what it should look like - a couple more sides need to be sewn before this can be finished. Not all my projects can be fantastic successes, and I ended up abandoning this ball because the suede was too thick and stiff to invert through the hole I had left, at least without undoing a lot of previous stitching. This also happened because I used smaller rectangles than before, which provides less leeway: 1.5-inch squares (so 5.5" x 2.5" rectangles, including 1/2" of slip), instead of 2-inch squares (7" x 3" rectangles). I didn't want to have to stitch up a whole side from the outside, as my attempts at "pretty stitches" usually produce the following:

These are the stitched-up holes from the first set, after stuffing the stuffing in. (Note on that: put in much more stuffing than you think you need, so that the ball is quite taut. Failure to do so will resort in a loose final product that expresses ennui, rather than exuberance. You want EXUBERANT BALLS.)

I'm happy sticking with these ones, as they are very aesthetically pleasing to me. Each has one rectangle of red-on-blue brocade, and for the other rectangle, they have burgundy suede, iridescent red/black cloth, and the reverse of the brocade (blue on red). Hey kids, patterning is cool. B)

Ugly stitches: EXTREME CLOSEUP