Sensor Hacklab
Album

The Sensor Hacklab course focused on learning about sensors hands-on. We used Arduino microcontroller boards for reading various ready-made and DIY sensors. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

In the beginning of the course we explored in small teams various materials and tried to figure out if they could be used for making sensors. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

As all that glitters is not gold, multimeter was used to determine the electric properties of the materials. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

A datasheet was written for all the materials. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

One student used one of the materials investigated, namely high-resistance conductive yarn. She used it in combination with regular yarn for prototyping stretch sensors, which produce variable resistances when stretched. As a first version, she knitted an i-cord, as such a structure stretches well. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

The idea was to ultimately make stretchy garments for producing changing visuals created with Processing. Here is an early prototype for testing the interplay between the sensor and Processing. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

For a wearable version, a bigger DIY knitting machine was needed. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Fitting the sensor. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Fire was an inspiration for another student, who used Tungsten wire inside small lamps for detecting flame near the sensor. Again the changing input was due to changing resistance. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

The idea was to make an installation where thin yarns hung from slowly rotating motors are gradually burned, producing sound output. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Two students made a thorough examination of a toy, which included a keypad that produced various low-fi sound effects. Under the keypad was a matrix as an input interface. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

The sounds and associated matrix connections were carefully noted down. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Further deconstruction of the toy also revealed that the circuit board was actually a cute little bug. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Here is more advanced aluminum foil control interface for the toy matrix. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

The matrix experiments led ultimately to a prototype of a carpet, which produces sounds when stepped on. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Under the carpet were switches made of aluminum foil. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

One student was at the time of the course taking also a Bio-Lab course and wanted to develop a plant that moves when touched. In this prototype the plant is moved by one DC motor, which has a weight attached to it. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

In addition to living organisms, hand-crafted objects were experimented with. One student wanted to create a wall of origami structures, which would move based on sensor input. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

In the prototype, the input was coming from a Processing sketch, which detects eye movements. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Different mechanisms for moving the origamis were also made. Here is one based on RC servos and cocktail umbrellas. Another version included muscle wire. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

One project aimed at making a box-like installation where placing hand inside the box would trigger effects. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Inside the prototype was a bicycle lamp and a photoresistor as well as some sound-producing equipment. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Another project was about building a modular synthesizer, which would have some modules that are based on sensors. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä

Here is the prototype circuit for the synth, where a row of LEDs signal the sequencer output. / CC BY Kati Hyyppä