Sunday 30 May 2010

To see or not to see?


Appearance is a key factor for my final product because it will either be a camouflaged object or a highly visible object.

The working model is currently a light grey colour as I originally thought it would help to show how the concept works, by improving the visibility of the PIR sensors which surround the base.
However, this may change in time as I believe that a darker colour would not only improve its appearance but also help to create a sense of concealment. After all, the purpose of the PIR on the final product is to activate the light and cause surprise.

Finishing

The final housing for the product before priming and painting.

On the left you can see the connections for running the model. It would have been nice to conceal them within the model but for the sake of troubleshooting should any problems occur, I chose to mount the Arduino board close to one side.

Working model

This image shows the working model being test fitted to ensure all the components fit and were correctly aligned.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Sensor Test

To create a casing for the prototype model the PIR sensors are masked off so that their signal is reduced. I have done this to reduce the amount of interference created from multiple signals but also to stop the signals from each sensor from overlapping.


The video shows a test run to see that the face for the model will not block the signals from the sensors which are mounted behind the 6mm holes.

This is an image taken from earlier manufacturing and testing. At this point I was testing the PIR with the Servo to check the connection and reaction between the two.


This is an image taken from earlier manufacturing and testing. At this point I was testing the signal from the PIR sensor.


Thursday 13 May 2010

Light test

Servo test with light attached.

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Tracking servo test

Testing the ability to track a target using the PIR sensors

180 servo test

This video shows some testing of the working prototype model.

Monday 10 May 2010

Following a person

One of the concepts generated from this idea was that the light source would actually follow the persons instead of illuminating them. I believe that both would work however there are advantages to illuminating the target in a security sense.

Thursday 6 May 2010


New Look

This is a mock up of what the product could look like if it was trying to move a volume (light) as opposed to a surface (mirror)

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Spotlight

This is my second attempt, this time I have attached a shape to track me.

This is an example of how the product could work in an industrial setting, tracking the intruder until they leave the environment.

Video tracking, working!

This is my first attempt at tracking using video.

I did this using Adobe After Effects and created a tracking path which I was then able to attach an object to.

I am pleased with the result and will try to create examples of concepts.