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This group project was done as part of the second-year Systems Design and Computing module. The group consisted of 4 members and our task was to design and manufacture a device that attaches to a predefined location and gives a visual response to variations in two stimuli. Whilst one of the inputs was required to be motion, our group decided to take wind speed as the second input.
Location
Our assigned location consisted of the railings shown in the figure to the right. Whilst the mounting points are limited, the location itself provides a variety of unique opportunities due to it being at the crossroads between several tall buildings. Consequently it was safe to assume that a substantial amount of foot traffic would be present and that the winds would be directed towards our device.
Regarding the mounting of the device we initially considered having a vertical assembly. However after several design iterations our team eventually decided to proceed with a design that involved an elevated platform attached to our given location. We choose this as it gave us a stable platform onto which we could develop as complex a mechanism as we wanted.
Design
Inspired by the status of Southampton as a waterfront city our team decided to build a device that incorporated a marine theme. As a result our finial design consisted of a moving boat placed on top of a surface built to emulate the wave like motion of water.
Proximity response
The motion of the boat was linked linearly to the measured proximity of people near the device itself. To measure the proximity we decided to use an array of ultrasound sensors. Whilst this allowed us to detect people approaching from a distance it also introduced substantial amount of noise and interference between the sensor readings. Therefore we implemented a noise reduction algorithm into our code and ensured that only the closest measurement would be taken.
Wind response
The wave effect on the top surface was induced by rotating cams stretching a piece of fabric (with a plastic layer beneath it for waterproofing). The speed of the cams was related to measured wind speed which was measured using an anemometer. However, to save costs our team decided to build our own anemometer.Â
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