A week filled with...problems
If there's one thing you need to know about working with electronics and coding... : You will eventually face a lot of problems. A lot. I finished my first simple prototype on tuesday, three days ago, and I feel like I've been stuck in the same place since. Problem after problem har surfaced, and when I managed to fix one, another one popped up. I know this is a part of the process, and that is why I'm writing about it. But I have to say I'm a little frustrated. It's unsatisfying to feel like you should be miles ahead of where you are at the moment.
The cloud has stayed in the box this week, unfortunately.
On wednesday at lunch, the transistor that I used suddenly got very hot. I ended up breaking two transistors, trying to figure out why. At the same time an error code appeared in my Arduino coding program. The code I wrote wouldn't get uploaded to my Arduino board. It turned out that I had probably broken the board when the transistor overheated. Luckily our teacher could lend me another board. We solved the overheating transistor-problem by switching it with a relay; this won't get hot, but it only works as an on/off-switch.
After two days, I couldn't figure out why I didn't get the relay to work. It was not easy to understand how it worked, since I found it hard to understand the information I got from the internet. Today's conclusion it that the relay is also problably broken. Yep. One thing I've learned: don't get too attached to small electronic parts.
Some of the stuff that I've broken/that are broken
But! These are all problems that can be fixed. I just have to switch my focus a little bit; while I'm struggling with the electronics part, I can sketch and prototype using a little "Wizard of Oz'ing"; I don't need the input and output to work right now to explore the endless possibilities for my final product.
