AsaSpace

The irregularly updated blog of Asa Alger which contains his work, inspiration, and thoughts. For his more professional work visit his website at http://www.asaalger.com

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Happy Valentines Day to everyone with a face!

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Adventure Box (Toy Bot) Project Update 4

Hello Internet!

It has been a long time since we have spoken about my project, so I have much to tell you!  The lack of updates is in part due to the physical end of the project winding down, and the marketing/branding end of the project starting up.  I have been hard at work with my co-conspirators on the project logo, website, artwork, and of  course toys.  One significant change is that we have finally picked a name for the box.  This first iteration shall be called Adventure Box!  That said I have been continuing to improve the insides of the box, and those improvements will be the focus of this post.

My efforts have been mostly concerned with two things in the latest rounds of changes.  One was the effort to simply clean the box up and make the connections more permanent.  I cut up the LED strips in the top and glued and soldered them flat on the bottom of the box, rather than sticking up on the sides as before.  I also laser cut a slot for the LCD screen and made some custom wiring that runs along the edges of the box giving the front panel a much cleaner look.  I also did this for some components within, giving the whole thing a much needed cleanup.

Secondly I was unhappy with the reliability of the detection.  I previously had one reader at the bottom of the capsule chute.  This worked very well for toys that allowed gravity to take over and bring the rfid chip to the bottom of the capsule.  But since many of the toys will not be made by myself, I really didn't want to limit the creativity of other makers to by having that be a requirement.  So I added two more readers on each side to add to the range and coverage.  However I soon discovered that readers in proximity interfere with each other and make nothing work whatsoever.  So after a little bit of despair, I realized that quickly turning each reader on and off in sequence, such that only one reader was on at a time, I could get full coverage with the readers very close to each other.  This has proven to be a much more flexible system than the previous one reader setup.

As always I have included some pictures below and one of our new Adventure Box logo!  And you can hear me talk about the project in my new video on youtube here.

Oh and lastly the project officially has its own site at www.adventureboxproject.com and this blog will be migrating there before long.  So check it out!

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ToyBot Project Blog 03

Great News!

The project has taken a huge step towards completion.  The basic functionality is 95% complete.  I know have functioning LED lights, Twitter functionality, inventory functionality, RFID scanning, and LCD screen.  You can see in the pictures below, its starting to look very pretty too.  Challenges were plentiful as usual. The http code needed to be cleaned up and revised so they were always sent correctly with no garbage characters in the streams.  The LED code library was revised for faster updating, and I had to attach an additional power supply just for the LED lights.

Moving forward I will be shifting towards making these electronics cleaner and more permanent.  Most of the wires are still using pins, and should be soldered in the final version.  I also need to work on finalizing the actual construction of the machine, specifically creating a bracket for the lcd screen, as tape doesn't look terribly good.  It will also be integrated into the custom paint scheme, same as the wires and led strip.  I also plan on adding sounds, a simplified power supply, and a custom external rfid antenna, all of which will be challenges.

But with this level of functionality I can start moving on to other aspects of the project, such as potential toy themes, toy construction, custom paint job, and the project website.

As always there is a video documenting this step in the project here, and several photos below showing the latest progress.

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ToyBot Project Blog 02

Hello All.

I thought I would update everyone as to my progress on the project.  I've succeeded in setting up most of the basic functionality.  As of now I have program that can read tags from an RFID reader, add data, and post that data to a mySQL database via php.  I Also have a Arduino board that can get information from the mySQL database via an ID and display that information on a LCD screen.  I've also been working on making both programs more reliable, with fail checks and backup protocols.

I had the most difficulty in setting up the Arduino to communicate correctly with php, it proved to be an unintuitive task, that had to be setup in a very particular way.  I only succeeded with lots of online examples and some help from my friend Jeremy Abel who deserves a mention here.

My current goal is to have the basic functionality 100% complete, the only remaining piece being the RFID reader for the Arduino board, which I am about half done with.  Beyond that I am looking forward towards new functionality, such as RGB lights, and sounds.  I have ordered new parts for these, and some new parts simply to replace ones I am currently using. I had to upgrade to a much larger breadboard, as I was running out of space, and I have ordered the Arduino Mega, as I am also running out of I/O ports on my current one.  I also assembled most a shield that will give an Arduino board the ability to play mp3 files from an SD card which is pictured below.

Lastly I have a video update here where I explain things more elaborately.

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ToyBot Project Blog 01

Hello Everyone. I would like to share something with you and I am very excited about it.  I have started a project that I am temporarily calling "ToyBot," but I am expecting that name to change.

Basically I am converting a traditional toy capsule vending machine into something much cooler.  For one it will dispense unique, handmade one of a kind toys made my many creative people.  It will also be a work of art itself, both aesthetically and electronically.  Each capsule will contain an RFID tag that when bought will trigger the machine to display information about the toy you just bought.  It does this via an Arduino Uno board with an ethernet shield.  This will communicate with a MySQL database via php to track the purchase, return information, and tweet about the purchase being made.

I hope to document the process of making this project a reality as much as possible and share the challenges, the achievements, and of course all the wonderful people involved.  There are some pictures below and I've made a quick video explanation that shows the hardware and explains the basic project technologies.  You can watch it here.

[buckmacabre]

I made a 16-bit RPG with Jeremy Abel for my friends. I did the characters and writing, he did the dev and and game design. BG’s, enemies, and combat algorithms were stolen from many a classic game! 

Here’s some of the animations I created.

[meganegginclegg]

I am a lucky duck. I’ve got some wicked cool/smart/weird friends and for Christmas I received, not one, but TWO interactive presents.

First, Asa Alger and Andrew Maruska (also known as “the boyfriend”) created a crazy internet puzzle (which you can’t solve without the email it was sent in, but you’re welcome to try!) with a super sweet, super secret prize at the end. 

Then, Jeremy Abel and Evan Anthony created a personalized 8-bit adventure game (pictured above) for everyone in our social circle. Each person got their own copy, so we can play as ourselves, and it is filled with terrible inside jokes. (THANKS FOR THE DEAF JOKES GUYS)

Daaayum. 

[natazilla]

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HAWHAAAAA??!?!

natazilla:

anime flapjack

[icecreamhater]

Beard Slap

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icecreamhater:

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I was experimenting with some pixel drawing, and decided to draw my coworkers.  I'm haven't gotten the whole office yet, and they still need some tweaking but I thought I would share my progress.  I think they are turning out well.

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Thoughts I was thinking before and during a Lykke Li concert

I feel as if I dilute myself with my surroundings. My thoughts are often in relation to external stimuli. People, events, things, places. When do thoughts come to mind unhindered? What does it take? Does it require the lack of external stimuli? I have often pondered isolating myself and seeing what ideas come forth. Do I really know myself or are my actions and thoughts really just a selective reflection of the world around me. Give me a room. Give me nothing in it. Paint it white. I will live there. I will hate it. Will it inspire me though? Will genius be forced out? Or just unproductive lunacy? I like the idea of removing things from their element. Even myself. I also like the idea of recording, monitoring, analyzing the process. When get older i want me living space to be like minecraft. In that if I want to alter my surroundings on a whim then I can. If I want to dig a cave in the backyard then I will. If I want a really tall shack then I will build it, and it will be painted strangely. It will have running water that simply moves in circles. I wish our ideas could be brought to life more easily. 3d printing is a step in that direction but it still requires 3rd modeling. And I desire a larger scale. I wish to have conversations with myself. Put your eyes where they normally aren't.

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Obessed

I want to be obsessed.

I want to be irrationally passionate about something.  I want it to dictate my thoughts, my activities, and my behavior.

This want for obsession is closely tied to my desire to create and to have creative output.  Obsession often leads to creation.  A person who cannot stop thinking about an object or a concept or technique, is often drawn towards creation, recreation, or emulation in some aspect.  This could be anything from murals, to sculpture, 3D models, or intricate drawings.  Adam Savage has a brief but excellent Ted Talk about his obsession with a few different birds and his obsession with replicating them here.  Obviously Mr. Savage has more resources at his disposal then myself, but at the same time its not easy to get motivated to pursue whims to such a degree as he does.  Ideas and creative thoughts run through my head many times a day, each with their own form and potential.  But in the end I pursue only a few of them, and those only when the mood strikes me.  I wish my mind was more obsessive and would seize on these floating snippets of thought and allow them to fill itself with nothing but that concept until it compelled my body to act on this obsession.  Hopefully creating something the process.  Obsession is not always a healthy thing, but is infinitely filled with potential, for it is neither rational, nor reasonable.

At the same time my desire for obsession stems from a need for exploration.  In ways I feel very well adjusted and secure in my life.  This is a good state to be in most of the time, and most people strive for it.  However having resided in this place for the majority of my life, it has birthed a fascination with the instability and chaos in others lives.  There is a great appeal to rock bottom, in so much as you are free.  You are free to drift from place to place as your whim decides and to explore the world without consequence.  I've always dreamed of hopping on to a passing freight train as it inches through town and simply finding out where its going.  This is a obviously a bit of a fairy tale coloring of what being homeless is actually like, but its a true statement that some people live that way by choice.

My mind travels often and widely.  Across the globe and throughout throughout creative spaces.  I simply wish it were strong enough to make my body follow it more often.

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Share it lady

I yelled at girl yesterday on the street.

I was walking near the park with my sister enjoying the unusually beautiful weather.  My spirits had been rising in sync with the trees releasing their green leaves all week. The tulips were out enjoying the weather as just as me in the corner park we were strolling by.  I spied a girl in her twenties stop to admire the flowers through the fence.  She loved them so much in fact that she bent down and picked one and carried it out of the park, her path intersecting with ours.

"Really?"

I stopped and said to her.

"You just picked a flower out of a public garden?"

"Yes."  She stopped looking confused as the nature of my confrontation.

"A flower that everyone should be able to enjoy in a public space.  You just picked it."

She dealt with my gentle but firm accusations with a slight grin that comes from nervousness and not having an argument other than "because I wanted to."  She at one point mentioned it was hard to find flowers in the city.  I mentioned that it was an infantile task to find a flower vendor that can provide beautiful flowers, rather than picking one of only six tulips that grew in that entire corner park.

I let her go without too much trouble, and I did my best to not be terribly rude or threatening.  But I hope she remembers my words.

I have little tolerance for those who ruin or destroy public property to the detriment of others and their own gain.  Especially something as fragile and as beautiful as some of the first tulips of spring in a city where wildlife is precious.  That flower she picked will wilt and die within the week, even if she puts it in water.  In the park it could lived and thrived to give its beauty to literally thousands of people who walk by that park every single day.

[buckmacabre]

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A fascinating video about two of my favourite things.  Soda and obsessions.

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Color Me Evan Addendum