Our Planet's ARK
Our ARK, which we've named "Lit Beats", is a standalone cabinet that uses a Tiva microcontroller and a power supply to implement a music sequencer.
A music sequencer is a grid of buttons, any of which can be pushed down to create a tune. Each row of the grid corresponds to a particular pitch or instrument, while each column corresponds to one beat of music. A light bar sweeps across the grid in time with the tempo, playing each column as the bar sweeps over it. Our sequencer has 8 columns and 5 rows, allowing for 8 beats and 5 different pitches or instruments. We also use metal marbles to hold down switches to activate a particular button, to give a real, tangible object to move as the user creates their own music.
Besides sensing the state of the switch on the grid, our ARK can also sense whether an IR breakbeam sensor has been broken, and the current state of an analog knob. Breaking the breakbeam switches the sequencer from musical pitches to a drumset, and vice versa. The knob, meanwhile, adjusts the tempo of the music, by controlling how fast the bar sweeps across the grid. The tempo also controls the speed at which the servo (with a picture of the professor's head) turns, to match the beat of the music.
The ARK also keeps track of its activity and changes state depending on it. If the ARK has finished a previous interaction, it will return to a welcome state, with the light bar scrolling across the grid as it waits for someone to hit the "start" button. Once it has started, a set of LEDs (arranged as notes on a music staff) keep track of how long the user has been interacting (with an LED turning on every 3.75 seconds). If the user stops interacting with it for 30 seconds, the ARK returns to its welcome mode, and no longer plays the notes on the grid. If the user reaches the 45 second time limit, however, the ARK will go into a celebration state, telling the user they did a good job and moving the servo and light bars in a festive manner! The ARK then resets back to its welcome state, to prepare for the next user.
When interacting with the ARK, a user will put on the provided headphones and hit the start button. They can then arrange the marbles however they'd like (make sure to keep only one marble per column), and listen to how the music changes as they do. They can also use the breakbeam and the knob to change up what gets played, to create their own unique experience. Once they've reached the end of time, they can see the ARK celebrate what they've created, and then return the headphones to let the next person try.
We are happy with how our ARK works, and were proud to watch as people enjoyed using it!
A music sequencer is a grid of buttons, any of which can be pushed down to create a tune. Each row of the grid corresponds to a particular pitch or instrument, while each column corresponds to one beat of music. A light bar sweeps across the grid in time with the tempo, playing each column as the bar sweeps over it. Our sequencer has 8 columns and 5 rows, allowing for 8 beats and 5 different pitches or instruments. We also use metal marbles to hold down switches to activate a particular button, to give a real, tangible object to move as the user creates their own music.
Besides sensing the state of the switch on the grid, our ARK can also sense whether an IR breakbeam sensor has been broken, and the current state of an analog knob. Breaking the breakbeam switches the sequencer from musical pitches to a drumset, and vice versa. The knob, meanwhile, adjusts the tempo of the music, by controlling how fast the bar sweeps across the grid. The tempo also controls the speed at which the servo (with a picture of the professor's head) turns, to match the beat of the music.
The ARK also keeps track of its activity and changes state depending on it. If the ARK has finished a previous interaction, it will return to a welcome state, with the light bar scrolling across the grid as it waits for someone to hit the "start" button. Once it has started, a set of LEDs (arranged as notes on a music staff) keep track of how long the user has been interacting (with an LED turning on every 3.75 seconds). If the user stops interacting with it for 30 seconds, the ARK returns to its welcome mode, and no longer plays the notes on the grid. If the user reaches the 45 second time limit, however, the ARK will go into a celebration state, telling the user they did a good job and moving the servo and light bars in a festive manner! The ARK then resets back to its welcome state, to prepare for the next user.
When interacting with the ARK, a user will put on the provided headphones and hit the start button. They can then arrange the marbles however they'd like (make sure to keep only one marble per column), and listen to how the music changes as they do. They can also use the breakbeam and the knob to change up what gets played, to create their own unique experience. Once they've reached the end of time, they can see the ARK celebrate what they've created, and then return the headphones to let the next person try.
We are happy with how our ARK works, and were proud to watch as people enjoyed using it!