EMOTION ORGAN
ORGAN MODIFICATION - PHYSICAL INPUT - THE FOOT PUMPS
18 Feb 2005
I presented my organ modification plan/physical inputs to Erich Berger.
He suggested that rather than using force pads or optical IR sensors on the
footpumps, that I should try out using an accelerometer that looks like this:
[Memsic 2125 Accelerometer: Acceleration, Tilt, and Rotation]
HOW IT WORKS (text slightly adapted from documentation on
the Parallax website):
Internally the Memsic 2125 contains a small heater. the heater warms a
bubble of air within the device. When gravitational forces act on this bubble
it moves. this movement is detected by very sensetive thermopiles (temperature
sensors) and the onboard electronics convert the bubble position (relative
to g-forces) into pulse outputs for the x and y axis.
Erich assisted me in connecting the Accelerometer to the BASIC Stamp project
board and programming the microcontroller, so now I will be able to test this
option on the pump organ. I also have to impliment a low pass filter to account
for any undesirable data caused by environmental "noise", such as
vibration, etc.
Additionally Erich suggested using an anemometer for the air vent at the back
of the organ, and 2 magnetic field sensors which could be fitted inside the
organ rather than externally (on the knee levers themselves) to get x/y position
data from the knee levers.
Finally we briefly talked about the piano stool. If the Emotion Organ is to
be used by the public, a loose connecting cable could be ripped out as the
stool is moved. Possibly a wireless connection would be more appropriate -
but also more complicated.