Since this is my first time documenting a process at ITP, I (1) had to set up this blog. (Here it is!)

... and (2) had to create a camera setup for capturing my process. Here's what it looks like:

Equipment shown:

• A long table and a over-the-bed adjustable desk. I love both of these.
• An iPhone for recording a time-lapse overhead video.
• A monitor -- mine happens to be a 40" TV -- for displaying the time-lapse viewfinder.
• The phone is sort of precariously mounted onto a tripod, streaming to a Apple TV 3rd gen via AirPlay and connected to the monitor, so that it was easy to make sure my hands were always in frame. This seems complicated but I'm just making do with the equipment I have.
• A nice aesthetic light I randomly got from IKEA a few years back. It has an internal battery and charges via USB, which is quite nice.
• A Sony NEX-6 digital mirrorless camera. I couldn't use my phone to take pictures because it was recording the time-lapse videos.

None of this equipment was super expensive! I bought most of this stuff used rather than new.

And a note about the post-processing:

• The large GIFs: Taken using continuous shooting mode on the camera. Photos -> GIF conversion done using Google Photos.
• The time-lapse GIFs: Taking using time-lapse mode on the phone. Video -> GIF conversion done using a Mac app called Gifski. (I've done the conversion process before using ffmpeg but it requires finding the right args to pass to it. The app does the same thing more intuitively.)

I've had some basic EE experience before, so the labs were pretty straightforward to follow -- I mostly just followed the instructions and tried to recreate the reference photos throughout the process! I've used a 💡 to denote insight and questions I had.

https://itp.nyu.edu/physicalcomputing/labs/breadboard/

💡💡💡
For this lab, I didn't have the listed power source. Instead, I used the Arduino's 3V power out pin, which later labs included instructions for.

Will it light? Test your understanding

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

Test 4

Test 5

LEDs in parallel

https://itp.nyu.edu/physicalcomputing/labs/electronics/

Testing the meter

Measuring resistance of a component

Measuring resistance across your hand

Measuring voltage

💡💡💡
In which I discovered the convenience of alligator clips.

A switched LED circuit

Components in series

💡💡💡
The LEDs aren't lighting up! As the lab states, the LEDs require 2V minimum to light up. The lab assumes we're using a 5V power source (each LED gets 2.5V), but I'm using a 3V power source and there's a resistor attached (each LED gets less than 1.5V), so it makes sense that the LEDs don't light up.

Components in parallel/measuring amperage

Generating a variable voltage with a potentiometer

https://itp.nyu.edu/physicalcomputing/labs/switches/

Make your own switch

I made a switch that turns on when I close my laptop lid!

💡💡💡
My initial thought was that I could use the lid as a conductor, and so I could put the clips anywhere I wanted. It turns out that homehow the MacBook body doesn't conduct electricity? Perhaps there's some nonconductive coating on it. I work around that, I positioned the clips so that they would touch when the lid was closed.

Project 1: Three switches in parallel

Project 2: Three switches in series

Project 3: Switching a motor

💡💡💡
I didn't do this part! This project requires motor and a dual-pole switch, neither of which I had available.