Common GroundInteractive Urban Installation
Many of us hurry around in our daily lives, heads bent down, eyes glued to screens, to the extent that we forget to really see and appreciate the diverse individuals around us. What does it take to get us out of our shells and connect with others? Common Ground sets the stage for serendipity and chance encounters, utilizing the two most common actions pedestrians engage in: stepping and sitting. Planters staggered at different heights are flanked by seats on one side and pavers on the other, linked via wired controls. Once a seat is occupied and a paver is stepped on in sync by two different people, the corresponding fountain comes to life and shoots up jets of water, to the delight of the participants and others around it. |
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Collaborators: Derek Ouyang, Alice Eamsherangkoon, Rebecca Diaz Atienza, Victoria Flores
Exhibition Venues: 2015 SF Market Street Prototyping Festival, Frost Art & Music Festival
Exhibition Venues: 2015 SF Market Street Prototyping Festival, Frost Art & Music Festival
My Role
I was the sole team member designated to design and implement the electronic control system for the project. The installation was to consist of twelve sets of pumps, pavers, and seats. When a person stepped on a paver, and another person simultaneously sat on the opposing seat, the pump in between would activate, shooting a jet of water out through the planter. We also wanted to be able to simultaneously control lights, as well, for nighttime operation.
Due to budget constraints, I selected limit switches to sense whether or not someone had stepped on a panel, and I selected an Arduino Mega 2560 to control the system because of its abundance of digital I/O pins. I decided to switch twelve wall outlets so that any device with a wall plug could be switched by our system, and I used optocoupled relays to isolate the wall circuitry from the Arduino circuitry. Each relay could switch 120V and up to 4A, plenty to power our pumps and lights.
Due to budget constraints, I selected limit switches to sense whether or not someone had stepped on a panel, and I selected an Arduino Mega 2560 to control the system because of its abundance of digital I/O pins. I decided to switch twelve wall outlets so that any device with a wall plug could be switched by our system, and I used optocoupled relays to isolate the wall circuitry from the Arduino circuitry. Each relay could switch 120V and up to 4A, plenty to power our pumps and lights.
Each set of panels (two pavers, one seat) required its own circuit board. Each board consisted of three switch inputs, corresponding outputs for the Arduino to sense the switches, two optocoupled relays (one for each outlet to be controlled), two inputs from the Arduino to control the relays, 5V power and ground inputs for the small-signal circuitry, and 120V high, neutral, and ground inputs for the power circuitry. I manually soldered six copies of this board in addition to a power distribution board. I laser-cut an acrylic box with appropriately spaced mounting holes for all the outlets, switches, and circuitry.