J’ai faim!
Album

We started the first day of MalakoNiarof by exploring the abandoned treasures at our workshop location, thrift store La Ressourcerie. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

We also took the obligatory Eniarof team photo with our new MalakoNiarof scarfs. Unfortunately I have this photo only in low resolution. / Photo by Antonin Fourneau

This pink joystick among the electronic MalakoNiarof materials captured immediately my attention. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

The joystick needed something interesting that it could control. This abandoned giant Barbie styling head from the thrift store toy section seemed perfect for that. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

A stepper motor with a driver board and an Arduino was used for controlling the head movement. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

A solenoid (left) was also added for moving the Barbie tongue, so that she could eat. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

An eating platform was also needed and this 80s style cool storage box was more than suitable for this purpose. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

While I worked on the electronics, Niklas built an elaborate axis mechanism for moving the head. A hollow metal stick was used as an axle and scooter wheel with a ball-bearing for smooth moves. Cardboard pieces on the sides served as stoppers, which limited the head movement to 180 degrees (we didn't count the motor steps, as we suspected that the motor would lose steps when moving the heavy head). / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

With a bit of plastic surgery, the solenoid was implanted in the jaw. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

At this point we all started to do a late-night shift at the La Ressourcerie, as time was running. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

LEDs, a speaker and an old PC power supply were also embedded in the green box. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

The Barbie got hand-crafted modelling clay sushi. This seemed like an appropriate food because I was eating sushi almost every day - there seemed to be a lot of sushi places in Malakoff. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

We needed a way to detect which sushi the Barbie had eaten. Photoresistor moving with the head and fixed-position LEDs hidden inside the box did the job. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

More and more electronics stuff had piled on our working tables and many passers-by asked us if we could repair their computers and other devices. Since our French was quite minimal, we asked a native speaker to write us this sign as an answer to the FAQ. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

The joystick got a little box - in fact its original box decorated. Moving the joystick up would start the game, left and right would move the head correspondingly and pushing down would result in eating a sushi. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

LED next to each sushi piece indicated which sushi should be eaten - eating a wrong sushi results in losing points. The tongue stuck out when eating. Barbie also got a 'space bun' hairdo (thanks for the term Darsha!) in order to avoid her voluminous hair getting stuck everywhere. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

This cheerful retro tray and the chopsticks found in the storage room provided a perfect background for the score counter, which indicated Barbie's hunger level. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

Here is the hunger level indicator made of Neopixel LEDs. The goal was to reach full belly (Rassasié) and to avoid being starved (Affamé). If the sushis weren't eaten fast enough or if wrong sushis were eaten, the hunger level would drop quite rapidly. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

Schematic for the game. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

Here's the whole game. A speaker was also included on the top in a green plastic cup for sound feedback. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

The game seemed attractive for young visitors... / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy

...as well as older visitors. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä & Niklas Roy