Process

The design of this project took many iterations to result in the finished product. After understanding the emotion that we wanted to convey, surprise, we thought of various ways to actuate sound and visual components

Ideation sketches for the Jack in the Box idea.One of the very first designs was very similar to that of a Jack-In-The-Box where when one user tapped his box, the other’s would spring open. It was difficult however to find a proper spring mechanism. The next design incorporated the use of sound by having a servo attached to a spring that would hit against a metal surface within the box before having the lid open to expose a light. However, we felt the light would not be enough to grab an individual’s attention. Finally, we were inspired by a baby toy, Busy Ball Popper, and determined to make the Pandaro Box. Incorporated a DC motor into the holder, the object can throw a smaller box several feet.

Plan for our final idea

Collaborative task division

Prototyping

We began prototyping various designs with cardboard, however we ended up fabricating the two boxes out of plywood, by engraving, cutting, and sanding to get a polished look. We wanted the boxes to be all self-containing, so we supplied two 9V external power sources with the boxes.

We tested the sensors separately by writing code to support a transistor controlled motor, PIR sensor, and accelerometer for tap detection. One user would be able to tap one box, while the accelerometer was looking for a break in threshold value, triggering a message to the other device to check for motion on its end, and if detected, triggering the motor to run for enough time to send the smaller box into the air. In order to optimize functionality, we calibrated both the PIR sensor and accelerometer after installing them in their boxes. Through the Spark API publish and subscribe events we were successfully able to communicate between both devices. Although the chips had trouble connecting to wifi and the cloud during demo, we were able to achieve successful functionality prior to. 

First actuator prototype

High powered lights

This is all the hardware mess we made from trying to work through our ideas.

Making

Building a box

Filleting edges

Internal mechanism

 

First successful mock up.

Components

Plywood, paper boxes, spray paint, jumper wires, PIR sensor, accelerometer,

DC motor, photon board, hot glue.