Modifications to the track (mechanics)

Here is the modification to the track I made, based on the advice that Marianella and Yasu gave us on presentation day. Now the model is more accurate and works more like a printer as aimed.

Modelling the internals

I switched around the internals a little. Just a small revision, so everything works better and there is enough clearance. The green square represents the PCB. It wouldn't be that large but I left it big just in case.

Final Video

Case Design

The proposed case is made from clear perspex and glossy ABS plastic. I modelled the case by extruding a 4mm profile. We wish for the case to be both wall mounted and free standing.

PCB

This is the PCB it looks pretty dodge but I hope it expressed the idea well enough. The base of the plastic is there so that water does not get in. and there is a top cover also. This area has also got space for the rest of the electronic equipment. The idea behind it is to control the fish like a printer head is controlled. 

Track + Fish

The track sits above the fish which the fish run on. The track is there so that the fish are able to move around freely within the tank. The motor consists of a trans-axel which moves the wheels and the differential which allows the string which connects the fish to be raised and lowered. The outside of the track has a perimeter which allows the motor to be move around the outside.

This is a printer head  Mechanically it is similar to our fish moving system. I wish to model our system to work similar to this.

model making

This is the ardurino wristband model. I carved a piece of foam in the shape of a wrist with the wrist band on. My plan was to put lights through small holes of the wristband however the holes needed to be too big and I ended up breaking the foam in half and glueing the LED's into it.
The code in the ardurino unit controlls the LED's. The array is aimed at giving feedback to the user by flashing to the pulse of their heartbeat. My lack of practice with C programming only allows me to set the heart beat to a pre determined number. The LED array that Yasu and I programmed is similar. However instead of the lights strictly turning on and off, I would rather they glow and fade on and off according to the speed of the hearbeat. My array consists of "separating" LED light array so I welded 2 LED's to each positive wire. I thought that this would give it a trippy effect.  I envisioned it like this.


 Here is the code:

// Switch Input 02 (with if...then statements)

// prepared by Yoakim Vasdekis August 2011

// refer to Language Reference at www.arduino.cc for detailed descriptions of commands

#define pbPin1 2                        // assign 0 to constant "pbPin1" --- Push-button 1

int button1 = 0;                               // assign "0" to variable "button1"

int butStatus = 0;

int seqTimer = 0; // for led sequence speed

int seqDelay = 5; // 0.5 second

int ledStatus = 0;

int butTimer = 0; // for button

int butDelay = 5; // 0.5 second

boolean detectStatus = true;

void setup(){

  Serial.begin(9600);                        // open serial port with a specified baud rate

  pinMode(pbPin1, INPUT);        // set the digital pin as INPUT

  pinMode(3,OUTPUT); 

  pinMode(4,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(5,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(6,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(7,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(8,OUTPUT);

}

void loop(){

  button1 = digitalRead(pbPin1);  // read the pin state ("high" or "low")

  Serial.print("but:");                  // send "status = " to serial monitor window

  Serial.print(butStatus);

  Serial.print(" led:");

  Serial.println(ledStatus);

  

  if(detectStatus){

    if(button1 == 0){   // if both switches are "0" or ON then

      butStatus=1;

      detectStatus=false;

      butTimer=millis()/100;

    }

  }

  

  if(millis()/100-butDelay > butTimer){

    detectStatus = true;

  }

  

  if(butStatus==1){

    ledStatus = (ledStatus & 62) +  1;

    butStatus=0;

  }

  

  if(millis()/100-seqDelay > seqTimer){

   seqTimer = millis()/100;  // reset the timer

   int lastDigit = ledStatus & 32;

   ledStatus = (63 & (ledStatus << 1)) + (lastDigit >> 5);

  } 

   

  for(int x=0;x<6;x++){

   digitalWrite(3+x,(ledStatus >> x)&1);

  }

  

  //  if(ledStatus > 5){

  //    butStatus=0;

  //    ledStatus=0;

  //  }

  delay(10);                                    // wait for 100 milliseconds

}

To make the fish I had to model them in solidworks. This proved to be one of the hardest models i have ever made because of the excessive lofts and extra planes needed for the rounded body of the fish. it also tapers in at the front and back and at the fins also. The fish were transformed into a tangable form by the 3D prototyper via an STL file.  Below is the finished model of the fish inside the tank. The perspex model tank was made by my team members Bec and Lisa.

Group exercise and mood thoughts/ research

I found this article on group exercise and how it is much more effective than exercise done individually. This makes a lot of sense. Also, group exercise has a much greater positive impact on mood because of the combination of the social aspect and the competitiveness.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8257716.stm

Model In Action

The wristband model filmed at my house just as I was initially testing it.