MAX MSP code

Here is a detailed out overview of the code I am using for my prototype in MAX MSP,

MAX MSP

Here is a video demonstrating that the core functionality of my prototype is working,

Diagram

Diagram of how a passive RFID tag gets its power and exchanges information with the reader,



Source

Types of RFID tags

Active RFID tags

Active RFID tags have a power source, for example a battery, to power them in enable to exchange information with the RFID reader.

Passive RFID tags

Passive RFID tags do not require a internal power source. Instead the RF (Radio Frequency Signal) transmitted by the RFID reader powers up the RFID tag through modulation and demodulation (AC to DC) in enable to exchange information with the RFID reader.

This type of RFID tag is commonly found in,

- Key fobs;
- Credit Cards;
- Oyster Cards;
- Etc.

RFID Hacked

Being able to do a lot of positive and handy things with RFID technology there are also still a lot of security and private issues. Especially since RFIDs can now even be found in passports, credit cards and public travel.

Doing a quick Google brought up a lot of interesting articles of people who were able to hack RFIDs,

Oyster Cards vulnerable to RFID hack, lots of other systems too

U.S. Passport RFID Already Hacked

RFID credit cards easily hacked with $8 reader

How to Hack the RFID Passport Chip

Hackers Clone E-Passports

Steal Credit Card Numbers Wireless using RFID

RFID Technology

RFID is an automated identification method that stands for Radio-frequency identification. It is used quite intensively now a day, probably more than people think.

I have listed a couple of examples below,

Reflection

Looking at the current research that I have done and my proposals. I want to try and develop a prototype for the third project idea entitled RFID Profile Scanner.

I will now focus my research more on,

- RFID technology
- Arduino
- Tinker.it RFID Module
- MAX / MSP

Musical Robots

At Georgia Tech The Robotic Musicianship Group have developed two robots who are able to "listen" to the music that is being played by other people and they then try to "blend in" trying to match the rhythm and melody.



As Professor Gil Weinberg explains,

"The processing allows [the robots] to analyze and improvise," said Weinberg via telephone. "In one of the applications, we use a genetic algorithm... You have a population of something, and then you do mutations to all of these little things -- in my case it's musical motifs -- mutations and cross-breeding between the musical genes, in our case, and then you have a new population that better fits to the environment.

He continued, "Very fast, it runs [about] 50 generations of mutations that are cross-bred between the genes and tests whether this is similar to a motif that the saxophone player played, for example. And it plays something back that is a combination of musical genes of what the saxophone player played, what the piano player played -- something that is unique that only can be the product of genetic algorithm."

Source

Reflection

This is the first time I have ever seen a project like this. The "magic" behind it seems to be a algorithm, but they mention a genetic algorithm which is used to,

Genetic algorithms attempt to find solutions to problems by mimicking biological evolutionary processes, with a cycle of random mutations yielding successive generations of "solutions". Thus, they emulate reproduction and "survival of the fittest". In genetic programming, this approach is extended to algorithms, by regarding the algorithm itself as a "solution" to a problem.

Source

I would not want to go into what the usefulness of having a robot play a musical part, but looking at the larger scale where this particular algorithm is able to find a solution very quickly is quite interesting and being able to distinguish these melodies from different melodies.

I remember seeing another application of the last mentioned where 5 Japanese students would simultaneously shout a order at a computer and the computer was able to distinguish all of there orders.

Bug Labs

When researching a couple of times I saw the company name Bug Labs dropped in some posts. When doing a quick Google for Bug Labs I ended up on their main site.



It seems Bug Labs might be the next gen Arduino platform.

What or Who is Bug Labs ?

Bug Labs is a new technology company that wants to encourage new wannabe engineers. It is a easy start up platform since it does not require any soldering and you do not have to learn anything about solid state electronics.

Products


Bug Base

The BUGbase ‘Hiro P’ Edition is the “anchor” of the BUG ecosystem. Each BUGbase is a fully programmable computer, with a CPU, RAM, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, USB, Ethernet, MMC and serial interfaces, and a small LCD with button controls. BUGbase also has 4 slots in which any combination of BUGmodules may be inserted.

BUGview is a 2.46” 320×240 LCD screen which can be used as a touch-sensitive interface. This useful BUGmodule can be used both as a display and as an input device.

BUGmotion is a module with two components: a motion detector and an accelerometer. The motion detector has a range of up to 2m, and detects as little as 30cm of motion. The accelerometer has scalable sensitivity between 2.5g and 10g.

BUGlocate provides GPS receiver capabilities to the BUGbase. It has a passive internal antenna and includes a connector for an external active antenna. BUGlocate uses an SiRF chipset based implementation.

BUGcam2MP is a 2 megapixel digital camera module with a built-in flash.

Code

A lot of the coding is done in Java which is good news for a lot of people out there so you do not have to learn a whole new language or a language that has been slightly adjusted with some differences here and there.

Example

Here is some example code from a GPS Logger that was made. This piece of code is used to match the long and latitude to match a Google map tile.

package gpslogger;

import java.awt.Point;

/**
* GoogleTile.java - describes a Google Tile object that represents a 256x256 pixel
* chunk of the earth's surface.
*
* @author Sean Hill
* @author Dave Sant
*/
public class GoogleTile {
// The point (x,y) for this tile
private Point p;
// The coord (lat,lon) that was used to create this tile
private Point2D co;
// Zoom level for this tile
private int z;

// ...Constants...
private double PI = 3.1415926535;
private int tileSize = 256;
private float pixelsPerLonDegree[] = new float[18];
private float pixelsPerLonRadian[] = new float[18];
private int numTiles[] = new int[18];
private Point2D bitmapOrigo[] = new Point2D.Double[18];

// Note: These variable names are based on the variables names found in the
// Google maps.*.js code.
private int c = 256;
private double bc;
private double Wa;

// Fill in the constants array
private void fillInConstants() {
this.bc = 2*this.PI;
this.Wa = this.PI/180;
for(int d = 17; d >= 0; --d) {
float f1 = (this.c / 360f);
this.pixelsPerLonDegree[d] = f1;
this.pixelsPerLonRadian[d]=(float) (this.c / this.bc);
int e = this.c / 2;
this.bitmapOrigo[d] = new Point2D.Double(e,e);
this.numTiles[d] = (this.c / 256);
this.c *= 2;
}
}

public GoogleTile(double latitude, double longitude, int zoomLevel) {
this.fillInConstants();
this.z = zoomLevel;
this.p = this.getTileCoordinate(latitude, longitude, zoomLevel);
this.co = new Point2D.Double(latitude, longitude);
}

public Point getTileCoord() {
return this.p;
}

public Point2D getTileLatLong() {
return this.co;
}

private Point2D getBitmapCoordinate(double a, double b, int c) {
Point2D d = new Point2D.Double(0,0);

double thispplon = this.pixelsPerLonDegree[c];
Point2D sp = this.bitmapOrigo[c];

int newX = (int) Math.floor(sp.getX() + (b * thispplon));

double e = Math.sin(a * this.Wa);

if(e > 0.9999) {
e = 0.9999;
}

if(e < -0.9999) {
e = -0.9999;
}

double thispplonrad = this.pixelsPerLonRadian[c];

int newY = (int) Math.floor(sp.getY() + 0.5 * Math.log((1 + e) / (1 - e)) * -1*(thispplonrad));

d.setLocation(newX, newY);

return d;
}

private Point getTileCoordinate(double a, double b, int c) {
Point2D d = this.getBitmapCoordinate(a, b, c);

Point e = new Point((int)(Math.floor(d.getX() / this.tileSize)),(int)(Math.floor(d.getY() / this.tileSize)));

return e;
}

public int getZoom() {
return this.z;
}
}

Code Source

As with the Arduino Bug Labs also has an entire community available and a good system where user programs our posted with the option to download earlier versions. Everything is open source and all the codes are very well commented.

Reflection

There are some really interesting projects here and the modules look great to play with as well. Although the pricing of the units is a lot higher then what you would spend on the Arduino. Even so it seems well worth it, to bad its our last year here otherwise we might have been able to persuade TVU to give this a go for next year.

Bug Labs

POV display

This huge POV display was created by Mario Mauerer and a couple of his friends. It uses a total of 100 blue SMD LEDs to display the images.



The machine needs to get at least at a speed of 600 RPM to generate a image withouth any flicker disturbing the image.

Applause Machine

The designer of the applause machine is a British artist called Martin Smith of Laikingland. He designed this machine “for when your ideas are great but no one else agrees.”

Laikingland is a creative collaboration based in both the UK and The Netherlands. We design and manufacture beautifully crafted kinetic objects. Our first product the Applause Machine is designed by British artist Martin Smith. Just press the button and the Applause Machine enthusiastically claps its hands for you.

Source

Arduino Gameboy

I just wanted to post this to show how powerful the Arduino actually is. I mean what can it not do ? I found this project where someone had converted his Arduino with some add-ons to his own hand held console.



This shows again how much possibilities the Arduino gives to create whatever you want. Your imagination seems to be the limit here.

Matt over at Liquidware decided to build an “open source Gameboy” (known as the Gamepack) using off-the-shelf parts, including the modder-friendly Arduino microprocessor. While the Arduino may provide the brains of the operation, the 128×128 TouchShield Stealth color OLED touchscreen is most definitely the soul. Rounding out the build is an Inputshield board, which provides a tiny joystick (complete with rumble) and control buttons as well as a flat Lithium battery pack.

Source

Project Idea 3.0 : RFID Profile Scanner

A took the RFID kit home from a previous lesson, but failed to find a good purpose for it that did not seem too obvious.

Now I have come up with an idea that will allow me to use two project ideas in one. Namely combining the wall light sensor with the RFID scanner.

Imagine a house where each and every door opening has a RFID antenna. Whenever a person walks through a door the person gets scanned to see if he has any RFID chip on him.

These chips can be carried and implemented in numerous ways,

- Clothing
- Card
- ID Tag
- Implemented under the skin (extreme solution)
- Rings, Watch etc.

As soon as the RFID profile has been read from the chip the light in the room will be adjusted to the users preferences. Obviously you do not always want the light to be the same all the day if you are in the room. Here is where the Wall Light Sensor comes in places from Project Idea 1.0

So I want to combine the two to create one effective and energy efficient why of controlling the lights in your rooms.



Every door opening could have a metallic strip which is the RFID antenna. In the above illustration the metallic strip has been made very visible for illustrational purposes, but this strip can easily be hidden in the door opening.

Facial Expressions

I came across this article where robotic engineers used 34 servo motors to mimic facial expressions.



Source

Dancing Robot

I have always been interested on seeing how I could use a servo in one of my projects. Whilst researching this I came across this robots which uses a number of servos to "dance"

In one of my other posts as well a servo is used to open a door. At the moment I still like the idea of the touch light on the wall, but am still looking for something else where I could use a servo.

Anyway here is the video,



I tried researching more to see where this robot came from, but the only place where it leads back to is a YouTube page with the following information text,

Schüler der HTL-Saalfelden siegte auf der Österreicheschen Meisterschaft!!!

Which roughly translates into,

Student of HTL steals the show at the Austrian championships.

After researching some more I ended up with finding the schools website, Höheren Technische Lehranstalt in Austria, and it seems to be a competition they hold each year with a so called "Dancing hexabot" they have a page which highlights the 2007 event but not yet for 2008,

HTL - Hexarobot

Conclusion

Definitely interesting to see how they use these servos to create a "Dancing Hexarobot" more interestingly for me is how they would get the servos to synchronise so perfectly and execute these quite sophisticated movements.

This definitely gave me more inspiration into finding a good use for a Servo based project, but still I have been unable to come up with a strong idea.

Project Idea 2.0 : Fridge Management System

In the light of the two previous posts, reminding yourself of something you always forget and having something handy to help you out with a boring household chore.

I came up with the idea of a Fridge Management System. We have all heard of those automated fridges of the future which order your shopping and even tell you which products are running low.

But is it a advantage having everything completely automated where the fridge even tells you if a product is about to finish and orders automatically a new one... ?

Do you even want a new one ? or was it just a one-off buy ? You do not want your fridge to re-order a £1000 canister of caviar automatically.. do you ?

How annoying is it going to be if the fridge notifies you whenever something is almost empty ? people have way too many miscellaneous things in their fridge for this to be a fully working automated system. As mentioned before a person would have to be very precise and systematic in what he or she stores in their fridge for the fridge to be able to differentiate what exactly is needed.



I think automating orders for products like this will never be fully functional in the way you want it to be. There are too many variables in play for this to be a full proof system. It could probably only work well if the shopper itself is very consistent in its shopping and does everything as the system requires him to do.

An advantage of this is that you could implant a intelligent comparison system that could offer you alternatives that might be available at other supermarkets or let you know if a particular supermarket has a offer on that item.

Advanced Fridge

Whilst doing research a stumbled on this fridge from LG that seems to have everything that you would need for a fridge and more.



It has a,

- LCD Screen
- DVD
- Wi-Fi
- FM Radio
- Ability to look up recipes
- Digital Photo album
- Etc.

Conclusion

The reason why I posted this advanced fridge is that it interests me what other functions you can add to a fridge to make life easier. Especially the recipe book strikes me as a brilliant idea.

Which housewife is never short of ideas of what to cook ? having a digital recipe book with probably the ability to store an infinite number of recipes seems like a very handy feature. Also because is fridge is usually 99% of the time located in the kitchen which makes it easily accessible.

Same for the radio and the LCD Screen it provides a lot of entertainment whilst cooking.

Source