Team #1 Open Items: Completing the "Old Lady Puppet"

I am back from California and ready to move forward with the completion of the "Old Lady Puppet".  Our teams have been redistributed based on expertise.  I had open items on the puppet, but have not yet been able to connect with my team regarding the status of our puppet.

Open Items (Since 04/13/2011)

• Puppet accelerometer data  must be properly included in serial feed.
• Communication protocol between puppet & Unity must be completed.
• Update to protocol XML file.
• Shorten puppet main rod control by 4-5 inches.
• Fix outstanding issues with Blushing Control.
• Solder all wires after testing functionality of controls.

I will try to complete these items by Sunday 04/24/2011.  The reason for the tardiness was due to a death in the family and I am working hard to catch up with the other teams.

Failed Attempts (Old Lady Puppet)

We have multiple issues with the Old Lady Puppet

1)  The LED's are not shining brightly
2)  I have not yet been able to work on much of anything this week.  2 major projects at work, a conference paper and my father was put into ICU 4/6/2011 and then passed away on Saturday 4/9/2011.
3)  I am alone.  I would like some assistance on this project, but have not been able to obtain much.  Partly my fault... because I am afraid that the work will not get done.  I am kind of over this.
4)  I will turn in what I have.  Hopefully, somebody can pick up the torch.  I just do not have the mental capacity to move forward with this project.

Project 4 & Visualization

We made a lot of physical modifications to our puppet.  Each modification was in response to suggestions we received in our P2.  The list below shows some of the changes:

• Changed eyes for an older appearance
• Added Styrofoam base to give puppet an obvious overall cone shape
• Simplified rod controls to allow operation by one puppeteer.
• Mounted all sensors on wooden base.

Puppet Redesigned

Component Mounting Board

Here is our Processing visualization displaying the functionality of our puppet sensors: 

Puppet Redesign Continues

Last week we had the opportunity to present possible scene scenario's based on the behaviors of our puppets. I have redone the frame of our puppet to make it more robust and will be obtaining an appropriate outfit for our "Old Lady" puppet.  From a DATA standpoint,  I will update the XML communication protocol once I have remounted the accelerometer at the base of the puppet's skull.  I am concerned with the timelines for our deliverable, as I am performing all of these tasks alone.  I will add pictures of my progress later.

Character Scenarios

Our puppet has a lot of redesign work.  I am going to build the frame to make it more robust.  In addition, we were advised to remove a few of the sensors to make the puppet much more simple to operate/understand.  The redesign document will accompany our P4 next week.

Below are our P3 Character Scenarios:

Characters

Old Lady, Gangster, Cat, Security Guard, Small Boy

Physical Attributes & Behaviors

Old Lady:  Walks with Cane and blushes.

Gangster:  Short, Moves Head up and down, Smokes Cigar.

Security Guard:  Large stature shines flashlight.

Small Boy:  Licks Lollypop.  Mischievous.

Cat:  Black shadow, eyes glow.

Musical Accompaniment

Genre:  Jazz

Musician:  Miles Davis

Album:  Kind of Blue

Song:  All Blues

Scenarios (Textual Description)

Scene 1:  (Old Lady & Small Boy)

Total scene time: (1min 10 sec)

(0:04 – 0:14) Lights dim to start the show

(0:14 -0:24) Old Lady Enters and walks towards the painting

(0:24 – 0:47) Old lady looks up and down at painting.

(0:47 - 0:59)  Small Boy enters & Old Lady blushes

(0:59 – 1:10) Old Lady Character Leaves

Scene 2:  (Small Boy & Cat)

Total scene time:  (40 sec)

(1:10 – 1:31)  Little boy licks candy.

(1:31 – 1:50)  Boy gestures at painting

(1:39 – 1:50)  Little boy leaves scene

Scene 3:  (Gangster & Cat)

Total scene time:  (2min 10 sec)

(1:51 – 2:13) Gangster enters

(2:13 – 2:24) Gangster evaluates painting & lights up cigar.

(2:24 – 2:51) Gangster moves to other side of painting to evaluate from different angle.

(2:51 – 3:23)  Gangster lights up cigar again and raises head up and down, as if he has a sneaky idea.

(3:23 – 3:53)  Cat bursts onto the scene, lights eyes & startles the Gangster trying to look at painting.  Gangster Jumps is startled and leaves scene.

(3:53 – 4:01)  Gangster leaves scene

(9 sec pause in action)

Scene 4:  (Security Guard, Cat, Old Lady)

Total scene time:  (1min 50 sec)

(4:10  – 4:41) Cat jumps all around the space flashing lights and moving all over the place. 

(4:41 – 5:08)  Security guard enters & shines light in different directions looking for source of the disturbance.

(5:08 – 5:41)  Old lady slow walks out onto the stage looking around, as if she is lost.

(5:41 – 6:00)  Security Guard escorts the old lady off the stage & music fades out until silent @ 6:00pm

Working Physical & Sensor Design

*Sigh*

We finally have a working prototype.  Following a general design process that states goals and defines constraints actually does work. :-)   Our puppet took on several different physical forms before we settled on our final design.  We cam across a few circuitry issues including a failing: flex sensor and LED.  This video below sums up the process:

Below is picture of the final physical puppet design.  The sensory/mechanical design process is iterative and modifications will be made after our review with our instructor.

Putting Together The Prototype

We decided to go with a hand and rod puppet design, but not in the conventional Muppet sense.  Our solution will actually be controlled exclusively with RODS.  Here are the pieces we were able to acquire for our Old Lady Puppet:

In our next post.  We will have pictures of our puppet laid out.

Purchasing Parts & Soldering

This week Manimala picked up some parts for construction of the puppet.  I will be obtaining extra supplies to have as a backup to our puppet prototype.  The current design progress is slow, as we do not yet have the electronic sensors/actuators to create a working puppet.  We upload pictures of our build process once we obtain the kit.

Conceptual Design & Presentation

Our tour of the Center of Puppetry Arts" on 2/2/2011 yielded a few ideas regarding the design of our puppet.   We considered designing a shadow puppet and discussed the form factor of the puppet.  Although, we agreed upon utilizing a muppet sized design template, I believe that the size should be dictated by the performance space.  We each worked on different aspects of the design including, sketches, control/movement, materials and digital interaction.

Puppet & Digital Design

This week we are working on Puppet Design.

(Manimala) created sketches depicting an old lady puppet controlled by either rod, string or both.

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Team Brainstorming

This week we formed our team and are brainstorming member roles/responsibilities based on skill set and interests.  The "OLD LADY" puppet characterization will be interesting.   We setup a meeting time after class and will be brainstorming the types of behaviors we would like to capture with our sensor kits.