Skittish Nightbugs

Summary

The project brief entailed designing a STEM learning program for school students visiting a Factory of the Future. Fascinated by the possibilities of sensor technology, I developed 'Skittish Nightbugs: A Fun & Interactive Learning Experience Program using Arduino'. The nightbugs contain LEDs with programmed repeating behaviours that are activated when sensor detects movement. Programming was done by me, while my group partner made the CAD model.

Party of 2

Year: 2023

Scope: 14 weeks

Category: Interdisciplinary design

Skills Used:

Programming (Arduino IDE)
Photoshop, Illustrator
Solidworks (CAD Modelling)
Model making
Troubleshooting

Design Brief

Design a learning experience program for Launch Pad's Factory of the Future (a space that aims to showcase the latest technologies and practices in manufacturing, engineering and design). This learning experience should be a step-by-step education process including clear instructions, easily replicable design with pre-designed but easily modifiable components to educate a group of primary and high school students on a particular STEAM/STEM theme.

The design must include:

> digital technology

> hardware technology

> inspirational exploration forms i.e. biomimicry or generative design

Chosen STEM Theme

Awed by several interactive light art displays, I became interested to explore the use of sensors for playful purposes. I chose to develop my project around the Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor, which is a simple and cheap sensor common in many modern devices, such as security systems, automatic lighting and smart home devices.

Initial Ideas

I learned more about the PIR sensor’s functions. I found it very limited since it can only be triggered by a warm AND moving object. As such, I struggled to come up with interesting ideas for the project that were interactive and educational

Concept - Skittish Nightbugs

The Fresnel lens on the PIR sensor is reminiscent of an insect’s compound eyes which allows insects a wide field of view, and bloodsucking insects like mosquitoes and bed bugs rely on infrared vision. Similar to the PIR sensor, they do not send out energy or signals to “detect”. These observations inspired me to create a display that mimics the behaviours of skittish insects.

Additionally, the use of Arduino in this project is an exciting opportunity for primary and high school students to engage with the creative aspects of electronics. While Arduino is often associated with complex robotics projects, I wanted to use this project to demystify its use and showcase its simplicity and versatility. By doing so, I hope that this project would spark the curiosity and interest of students in electronics and coding.

The Skittish Nightbugs will be an interactive display consisting of a collection of bug-shaped modules, with each module fitted with several LEDs of various colours, one PIR sensor and an Arduino controller. Each module will respond to human presence and proximity, simulating the behaviour of a bug that reacts when approached. Multiple bug modules will be placed in a dark environment to simulate a forest and encourage audiences to dance and play around to generate various arrays of light.

Educational Objectives

> To introduce students to basic sensor technology and how they can be used to create interactive displays.

> To introduce students to digital and hardware technologies through simple programming on the Arduino.

> To demonstrate how biomimicry can be applied to design and used as inspiration for create engaging and responsive systems.

> To stimulate students’ curiosity and creativity in exploring STEAM/STEM concepts and skills through play and interaction.

Educational Program Instruction Set for FOF

Arduino code for programming the LED behaviour

Students are guided on how to program the Arduino Uno using this block of code which is a sample code for the 2 consecutive LED turn-on behaviour. They are encouraged to experiment with the code.
They are provided with paper cutouts of coding blocks to plan/visualise the order of the LED behaviour, using these simplified blocks as a means to tell the story of the bug's behaviour.
Each team will then be shown how their code is generated within the Arduino IDE program.
Bonus activity: a bonus coding block cutout sheet includes behaviours for LED blink behaviours which students can use if interested.