Pressure Project 2

PP2 was to create an interactive fortune teller in 9 hours. Similar to last time I challenged myself to completely begin and end the the process within that nine hour limit (this includes the brainstorming phase). Unlike the first pressure project, I went a route I assumed would be a(n attainable) challenge but instead realized the error of this assumption.

My original idea was to use a program called Max- a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling ’74. The program is similar to Isadora, but I was more familiar with how to use it and various sensors. I wanted to try to create a “fortune teller” that could use some sort of sensor to tell your fortune.

When I had spent too much time trying to figure out Max, I decided to turn to the Arduino, which I was familiar with and thought could work to create a physical fortune teller machine, similar to the 20 questions little game I had as a child.  I also knew that Arduino’s have tons of tutorials and help guides that might be able to assist in case I got stuck. It also helped that I had all the equipment from a previous class to get started (working by the light of a laptop):

My plan seemed straightforward: use an lcd screen to display questions to a user. Two small buttons would correspond to Yes and No answers to these questions.  The order in which a user answers would after a few questions generate a custom fortune. I began by wiring my arduino and led screen, using using a helpful code and preset sketch. This part was a success!

Next, I attempted to modify a few codes online, one being a simple fortune teller and the other being a code that have various forms of  “if this order of yes and no answers (ex: yes no no no yes) then do this (in my case read fortune).

This is where I ran into issues. When I put in a code, Text no longer showed up on the screen and my led stopped turning on. Then, my led light stopped completely. Then when I tried to get the box made so it would be held in something nice, I dropped the Arduino and messed up where the wired had been.

Then I ran out of time.