April Fools

This Blog has been pretty miserable lately - I haven't written a single thing since February. YIKES!! I didn't realize how long it's been since our project proposals. And as we learned in class last week, that's not a good thing for documentation!

As described last Thursday, my final project is going to be an electronic organ grinder. The project should prove to be ironic since an organ grinder can be done totally mechanically. This one, however, will only exist because of electronics. There'll be a Wiimote on the inside detecting the handle rotation.

I really liked Chris's idea to use the cardboard. I just picked up some wood to make a frame for the grinder and plan to cover the frame with pieces of cardboard. I haven't decided how I'm going to decorate the cardboard - whether I'll make it look amateur with Sharpies and lines or try and make it look like something nice (like a real organ grinder). I'm also going to need to get a strap so that people can wear the organ grinder (which is half the fun?).

I also grabbed a couple of music samples from online, although I might see if my dad can send me a recording of his organ grinder.

Progress should be pretty easy now (building-wise). The software/hardware is still proving to be problematic. I just can't seem to get the Wiimote to hook up reliably. The other thing is that the software will need to have variable playback speed so it'll matter how much you spin the organ.

I can't wait to get started on the building though, should be fun. And once that Wiimote stuff is resolved, the programming will be pretty easy. The rest is taking the project to the next level - having wires coming out of the box, needless technology, all the stuff the class talked about.