THE BRIEFCASE

In the beginning: I had the ideas for what parts I wanted to use before I knew what I wanted to make. I also knew I was more interested in an installation/experience for the user/viewer than an actual object. My first Decision was that I wanted to use a midi-controlled power strip, which allows for the dimming of any light plugged into it via midi-signals (created from the pic chip in my case).

My original Idea was to create some kind of art piece using only lights, I wanted the challenge of making a story, narrrative, or experience using only lights. (One idea for this was to use some kind of sensor (like a thermistor) to detect peoples peresence around the classroom table, the light would get brighter at each spot the longer people sat there, and when they left, it would leave a kind of lingering map of people's past presence that gradually faded away. It would have been a kind of physical representation of that heat that is left in a chair after someone gets up from it.)

When I started working on this project we had in the E.R. two small versions of the LightMaster in blue and three of the old version of it called the CL-6/1800. The problem is that I had no idea that both the LightMaters and two of the CL-6's were not functioning properly. So the whole time I was working with them I thought the problem was in my code and not with the hardware. This issue was compounded by the fact that almost no-one at ITP had experience using these devices so it was hard to corroborate any thing I was trying to do with it.

[Light Master DataSheet || CL-6 DataSheet || Purchase Info]

Having devoted several weeks to trying to make this thing work without any progress, I thought it was high time to abandon this idea. I switched to trying to develop something else. I was also interested in experimenting with sound. I did some research, and having the self imposed constraint that I wanted to use something really small, I decided on ordering the ISD 1420 chip. I would have preffered a chip with a longer recording time but since I was planning on using multiple chips it was more cost effective to use the 20 sec chip.

[ISD 1420 DataSheet || Purchase Info]

At the same time since I felt like my time was running short and I had to switch ideas but still had nothing concrete, I also ordered some small speakers, and some IR sensors (I specifically ordered the ones with the longest range GP2Y0A21YK), that I wanted to experiment with and could be useful for any project.

[GP2Y0A21YK DataSheet || Purchase Info]

My first step when the ISD chips came in was to try to wire them so I could test them and see if they could be of any use to me. I needed to buy some parts from RadioShack. Especially: 4.7 µF polarized capacitor, 470 K resistor, 5.1K resistor, 220 µF polarized capacitor, .001 µF polarized capacitor and several polarized and non-polarized .1 µF capacitors, in addition to a medley of 1k, 10k, and 100k resistors. Also a good quality non-powered mic and a speaker as mentioned above.

The first time I wired this chip it looked like a bowl of spaghetti, I had so many wires going everywhere. It also took up an entire breadboard. But eventually I got it to look pretty nice and even managed to fit it on one breadboard with a pic chip next to it.

Making the Chip work in a usable way took a while. Also I had inadvertantly ordered my IR sensors without a connector. Soldering wires onto tiny little leads took a lot of time and skill. This also turned out to be a problem when 20 mins before my final presentation one of the leads broke off causing a last minute scramble for a soldering iron with a tip that actually works and a magnifying glass.

Additionally from the start I was interested in finding a way to work with wireless. I was very dismayed by the fact that you have to run long wires from your sensors to the brain of your project. Wireless first came to my mind when I was exploring the thermistor idea. I was trying to envision how I would run wires to each and every seat in the classroom and back to my chip (and I was reminded of the many many wires I had strapped to me in my previous wearable porject). I also did research on this but at this point it doesn't seem practical money wise to have a wireless transmitter for each sensor. However it is somewhat practical to have one transmitter for a base, or a collection of sensors that is remote from where the brain of your project is. Because wireless was something I wanted to explore anyway, I did research on what to order. By general consensus GloLab seems to be cheapest if you buy individual parts from them. However, I was strapped for time and since I had enough trouble wiring the sound chip I didn't want to risk buying parts and instead opted for a ready made kit. GloLab sells one but they were sold out, and instead I opted for the very pricey, but in retrospect realiable and useful becuase of its serial function, wireless kit from RF Digital.

[RF Module DataSheet || Purchase Info || GloLab Link]

I had all of my parts working but I still wanted to use lights. So I went back to the LightMaster. After getting assurance that my code was absolutely right from the only person to have used a LightMater succesfully recently in a class presentation, Tom Igoe, I finally figured out, that in fact four of the five midi-controlled powerstrips in the ER were not actually working correctly. Having at last found one that responded to my code made me feel like I could go on with my project. I finally had all the working parts but not really an Idea for what to do with them. I went on a search for an object, that could contain my parts at the same time as have some sort of meaning of its own that I could play of off in terms of developing the content of my project. I went on a search, I was used to going to thrift stores in Chicago where you can find cool stuff for pennies, I was shocked to find every object I picked up at thrift stores here in NY, with a price tag of at least $100 dollars. I looked at little boxes, cupboards, typewriters, and suitcases. My old friend Wholesale Liquidators finnally hooked me up with the inspiration I needed: a briefcase. Though staples was a close runner up in terms of cheap briefcase like objects.

My final setup consisted of two breadboards each with a pic chip and an ISD chip. Also two bread boards one with an RF transmitter and one with a receiver. The briefcase contained the battery powered pic/transmiter 4 Mhz clock setup with an IR sensor, battery powered speakers, an the recording of "Hey...Hey you..." on the ISD.

In a remote location away from the briefcase I had a pic/receiver breadborad with a 20 Mhz clock, a Midi output, and a connection to the speakers in the room, and an ISD with the ominous laughing recorded on it. The Midi output was connected by a long Midi cable going up to the track by the ceiling and connecting with the CL-6/1800. The CL-6 had a red floodlight plugged into it foucused on the briefcase area and a white spotlight connected by a very long low hanging cord right above the briefcase on the ground.

The Transmitter PIC Code....................... ...........................The Receiver PIC Code

Viewers really enjoyed the fact that no technology was visible. The project was really more about the experience than the technology allowing that experience.

Special Thanks: James Tu and Ryan Holsopple

THAT'S ALL FOLKS